BELLE  AND  LILLY 


OR, 


THE     GOLDEN     RULE 


STORY     FOR      GIRLS. 


A    NEW    PEN 


EMBELLISHED   WITH   SIX   COLORED   ENGRAVINGS. 


NEW  YORK: 
P.    O'SHEA,    PUBLISHER, 

27    BARCLAY   STREET. 
1868. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1867, 

By    P.    O'Shea, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  for  the 

Southern  District  of  New  York- 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER    I. 

PAGE 

The  Arrival 1 

CHAPTER    II. 
The  Children's  Party 13 

CHAPTER    III. 
Sickness 31 

CHAPTER    IV. 
School  Days 56 

CHAPTER    V. 
The  Last  Day  op  the  Quarter      ....      86 

CHAPTER    VI. 
The  Old  Farm  and  its  Inmates     ....    112 

CHAPTER    VII. 
Country  Life 123 

CHAPTER    VIII. 
The  Picnic 157 


779156 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2012  with  funding  from 

University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill 


http://www.archive.org/details/bellelillyorgoldOOnewy 


CHAPTER    I 


THE    ARRIVAL. 


"  Do,  my  own  dear,  sweet  mamma,  let  me  put 
on  my  new  dress,  and  my  gold  bracelet  and 
locket,  tins  afternoon,  for  you  know  Cousin 
Belle  is  coming,  and  Uncle  Harley  is  rich,  so 
she  will  be  all  dressed  up,  and  I  want  to  look 
nice  too  ;  won't  you,  mamma  dear?" 

"  Yes,  yes,  Lilly,  go  away  and  tell  Katie  to 
put  on  just  what  you  want,  and  don't  come  to 
me  again  for  two  hours  at  least,  for  I  am  very 
busy." 

Lilly  ran  away,  delighted,  —  scarcely  wait- 
ing to  hear  anything  but  the  yes,  yes,  and  was 
out  of  sight  in  a  moment.  The  seeds  of  van- 
ity and  folly  were  already  deeply  sown  in  this 
child's  heart, — seeds  that,  if  not  uprooted  soon, 
would  spring  up  and  bear  abundant  fruit, — 
l 


2  BELLE  AND  LILLY. 

fruit  which  would  cause  sorrow  and  anguish, 
which  would  turn*  her  beauty  into  ugliness,  and 
make  it  far  better  for  her  had  she  been  born 
deformed,  and  in  the  midst  of  poverty. 

Mrs.  Mor daunt  was  a  young,  thoughtless, 
and  pretty  woman,  good-hearted  and  merry, 
but  without  any  fixed  and  guiding  principle, — 
contented  to  glide  along  life  as  easily  as  possi- 
ble and  to  get  all  the  enjoyment  she  could  with 
little  trouble,  doing  no  one  any  good,  and,  she 
thought,  no  one  any  harm.  At  the  time  we 
introduced  her  to  you,  she  was  reading  a  novel, 
just  in  the  most  interesting  part,  and  did  not 
wish  to  be  interrupted.  We  will  leave  her  and 
follow  her  young  daughter. 

She  ran  quietly  along  until  she  came  to  her 
mother's  chamber  ;  there  she  found  Katie 
busily  engaged  cleaning. 

"  Katie,  Katie,  come  right  away  and  dress 
me,"  imperiously  cries  the  little  despot.  "  I  am 
to  have  on  my  new  silk,  my  bracelet,  my  neck- 
lace, and  my  locket,  and  you  must  come  right 
away  and  get  them  for  me, —  ma  says  so.  " 

"  Indeed,  Miss  Lilly,  I  cannot  come  quite  yet, 
for  I  am  just  in  the  midst  of  my  work,  and  I 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  3 

can't  leave  the  things  all  helter-skelter.  Your 
ma  told  me  to  clean  her  room,  and  you  must 
wait." 

"  But  I  sha'n't  wait,  Miss  Katie,  and  I  will 
go  right  off  and  tell  mamma  you  won't  come 
when  she  said  you  must ;  and  then  you  shall 
go  away  from  here  —  so  —  you  ugly  girl." 

"  Well,  go,"  Katie  replied,  in  a  careless 
tone,  "  I  can't  leave  this  dirt  in  the  middle  of 
the  floor,  and  I  sha'n't  either,  unless  mistress 
orders  it  herself." 

Away  went  Lilly,  and  with  loud  complaints 
against  Katie  interrupted  her  mother  again. 

Mrs.  Mordaunt  was  now  obliged  to  put  by 
her  book  and  listen  to  the  affair. 

"  What  was  Katie  doing,  Lilly  ?" 

"  0,  she  was  sweeping,  I  believe,  and  she 
Would  n't  leave  it,  to  come  when  I  called  her, 
—  the  bad,  bad  girl!" 

The  mother  laughed,  instead  of  reproving, — 
laughed  at  the  consequential  air  of  this  little 
six-years-old  autocrat,  and  at  her  queenly  car- 
riage. 

"  Well,  well,  Lilly  dear,  you  must  wait  awhile, 
for  I  remember  I  told  Katie  to  clean  my  room 


4  BELLE   AND  LILLY. 

thoroughly  to-day ;  so  sit  down  and  look  at 
these  pictures  and  eat  some  candy,  and  by 
and  by  you  shall  be  attended  to." 

Lilly  was  satisfied  with  the  books  and  candy, 
and  contrived  to  wait  quite  patiently  for  a 
half-hour,  and  then  her  mother  told  her  she 
might  go  and  see  if  Katie  had  finished. 

She  had,  —  and  readily  took  Lilly  to  per- 
form the  important  task. 

And  now,  all  dressed,  she  danced  into  the 
library  again  to  show  herself  to  her  mother. 

She  did  indeed  look  very  lovely  in  her  deli- 
cate blue  silk,  with  that  shower  of  golden  ring- 
lets waving  about  her  snowy  neck,  —  and  she 
thought  so  too,  for  a  smile  of  satisfaction  rested 
on  her  little  face,  as  she  cried,  "  See,  mamma, 

—  don't  I  look  nice?  " 

"Lovely,  sweet, — you  darling  little  angel !  " 
These  were  the  mother's  exclamations,  as  she 
turned  her  around,  gazing  with  admiring  pride, 

—  not  one  glance  of  which  was  lost  by  those 
bright,  quick  eyes.  "And  now,  Lilly,  it  is 
a  whole  hour  before  your  coiibiu  comes,  — 
you  must  keep  yourself  nice,  and  don't  romp 
about." 


BELLE   AND   LTLLY.  5 

Lilly  was  very  content  to  sit  still,  now  she 
was  dressed,  and  play  with  her  doll  and  baby 
things,  for  she  wished  to  surprise  her  cousin 
with  her  fine  appearance. 

The  cousin  she  was  expecting  had  lost  her 
mother  a  few  months  before,  and  her  father 
sent  her  to  his  sister's  to  go  to  school,  and  be- 
cause, being  exceedingly  delicate,  he  thought 
change  of  air  might  benefit  her.  He  had  other 
motives  also,  which  will  appear  in  the  course 
of  my  story. 

"  There  she  is,  —  there  is  the  carriage,  dear 
mamma.     May  I  go  to  the  door  ?  " 

Away  she  ran  without  waiting  for  an  an- 
swer, and  soon  returned  leading  in  a  pale,  shy, 
and  rather  plain  little  girl,  dressed  very  neatly, 
and  with  no  adornment  save  an  exquisite  little 
bunch  of  flowers  in  her  hand ;  her  hair  was 
wavy  and  her  eyes  large,  dark,  and  spiritual- 
looking, —  you  felt  at  a  glance  she  was  lovable, 
and  yet  could  scarce  tell  why. 

Lilly  was  excessively  disappointed;  all  her 
finery  had  no  effect  upon  her  cousin,  who 
never  noticed  it,  apparently;  she  looked  sad 
and  lonely,  and  scarcely  spoke  at  all. 


b  BELLE   AND   LILLY. 

Mrs.  Mordaunt,  supposing  she  was  afraid  of 
her,  sent  them  both  to  the  play-room  to  amuse 
themselves.     We  will  follow  and  listen. 

"How  still  yon  are,  Belle,"  says  Lilly; 
"  are  you  sorry  that  I  have  got  a  silk  dress, 
and  a  bracelet,-  and  locket,  and  you  not  any  ? 
I  would  give  you  some  like  these  if  I  had  any 
more." 

Belle  smiled  faintly  as  she  said,  "  0  no, 
Lilly,  I  don't  care  for  that;  but  you  know 
I  have  no  mother  now,  and  I  have  left  my 
dear  father,  and  little  Willie,  and  I  am  all 
alone  here."  And  the  tears  began  to  fill  her 
eyes. 

Little  Lilly  did  not  know  what  to  do.  Never 
having  seen  any  one  in  real  distress,  she  did 
not  quite  understand  what  to  make  of  it ;  but 
she  was  an  affectionate  child,  so  she  threw  her 
arms  around  her  cousin's  neck  and  kissed  her> 
and  begged  her  not  to  cry. 

This  was  the  best  thing  she  could  have 
done,  and  Belle  was  comforted.  Soon  she 
and  Lilly  were  busily  engaged  in  their  play- 
house. All  Lilly  cared  for  was  dressing  and 
undressing  the  dollys  ;  but  Belle  tried  to  teach 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  7 

her  to  play  with  them,  and  pretend  they  un- 
derstood, and  were  real  children.  Belle  was 
three  years  older  than  Lilly,  so  she  could 
teach  her  very  well. 

While  they  were  thus  engaged,  another  little 
one  had  crept  in,  gone  softly  up  to  the  play- 
house, and  snatched  out  one  of  the  largest 
dolls  and  ran  away  in  high  glee. 

"  I  will  take  her  a  riding  in  my  cart,  Lilly, 
—  you  come  and  sec,"  said  Harry,  holding  it 
high  above  his  head. 

"  I  won't,  Harry,  you  ugly,  naughty  boy ; 
yon  sha'n't  have  my  dolly.  I  will  go  and  tell 
mother. " 

She  ran,  and  Harry  ran.  He  fell,  and 
dashed  the  doll  all  to  pieces  in  his  fall.  Lilly 
caught  up  to  him,  slapped  him  in  the  face  as 
he  lay  kicking  on  the  floor,  and  ran  scream- 
ing to  her  .mother,  with  the  broken  doll  in  her 
hand. 

Belle  looked  on,  shocked  and  stupefied. 
Soon,  however,  she  recovered  her  senses,  and 
went  up  to  the  little  boy,  who  was  crying  hard 
and  had  not  arisen. 

"  Don't  come  here,"  he  cried,  "  don't  come 


8  BELLE  AND   LILLY. 

here.  You  are  a  girl,  and  just  like  Lill.  I 
hate  girls,  so  go  away.'* 

"  But  Harry,  Cousin  Harry,  won't  you  let 
me  help  you  up,  and  brush  the  dust  off  from 
you,  and  bathe  your  poor  head,  where  it  is  all 
swollen  and  black  ?     I  will  not  hurt  you." 

Surprised  by  her  gentle  tones,  he  looked  up 
and  said,  "  Then  you  don't  like  Lill,  and  you 
will  go  with  me,  and  you  are  not  ugly  and 
cross  as  she  is  ?  " 

"  0,  don't  talk  so,  Harry  dear.  I  do  like 
Lilly  dnd  you  too.  I  love  you  both,  and  you 
must  love  us  both." 

"  No,  no,  I  sha'n't,  Belle.  I  will  not  like 
Lilly,  for  she  never  lets  me  play  with  her,  nor 
look  at  her  baby-house  and  playthings,  and  so 
I  will  always  plague  her  and  run  away  with 
any  of  them  whenever  I  get  a  chance." 

"  0  Harry,"  said  Belle,  with  her  eves  full  of 
tears,  and  a  face  of  sadness,  "  is  that  doing  as 
you  would  be  done  by  ?  Mamma,  my  dear 
mamma,  used  to  tell  me  that  I  must  be  good 
to  every  one,  even  if  they  were  not  good  to 
me ;  that^  if  it  made  me  feel  badly  to  be 
treated  unkindly,  I  might  know  it  would  an- 
other, and  —  " 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  9 

"  Dear  !  dear  !  what  are  you  talking  about, 
Belle  ?  I  never  heard  such  —  I  don't  know 
what  ever  you  mean.  You  are  good,  and  I 
love  and  will  kiss  you  ;  and  all  that  talk  about 
doing  and  being  good  to  people  that  are  cross 
to  me,  I  don't  understand  ;  but  I  will  listen 
to  you  some  other  time.  Now  I  am  going 
to  smash  the  baby-house  to  pay  Lill  for  my 
bruises."     And  away  he  ran. 

"  Don't !  don't !  0  pray,  don't !  "  implore 
ingly  cried  Belle,  running  after  him  and  seiz- 
ing his  hand,  and  then  looking  earnestly  into 
his  face  with  her  sweet  eyes.  "  Don't  you  love 
Belle  a  little,  — just  a  wee  bit  ?  " 

"  Yes,  yes,  a  great  deal,  —  of  course  I  do ; 
but  let  me  go." 

"  Then  for  my  sake  stop,  —  let  Lilly's  baby- 
house  alone  and  come  with  me.  I  will  tell 
you  a  better  way  to  treat  Lilly,  and  a  way  that 
will  make  you  happier  too." 

She  was  so  eager  that  Harry  consented  at 
last,  and  went  off  with  his  little  cousin. 

Lilly  had  by  this  time  made  all  her  com- 
plaints to  her  mother,  who  promised  her  a  new 
doll,  and  pacified  her  in  various  ways,  calling 


10  BELLE  AND  LILLY. 

Harry  a  naughty  boy,  without  inquiring  at  all 
into  the  merits  of  the  case ;  and  thus  Lilly  was 
made  unconscious  of  her  own  faults,  but  fully 
alive  to  those  of  others.  She  stayed  awhile 
with  her  mother,  played  with  her  jewel-box, 
and  decorated  herself  before  the  glass  with  its 
contents ;  and  when  tired  of  that,  took  them 
off  again,  and  dropped  the  box  and  contents  on 
the  floor,  and  ran  off  to  find  Belle. 
•  Upon  entering  the  play-room,  what  was  her 
astonishment  to  find  Harry  and  Belle  there, 
and  both  so  busily  engaged  they  did  not  hear 
her  enter.  She  crept  softly  along  to  see  what 
they  were  about,  ready  to  be  angry  with  both, 
for  she  supposed  of  course  they  were  in  mis- 
chief. But  her  eyes  rested  upon  a  beautiful 
new  wax  dolly  in  Belle's  hands,  who  was 
hastily  and  busily  dressing  it  in  some  of  the 
broken  doll's  clothes,  while  Harry  was  em- 
ployed in  arranging  the  disorderly  baby-house. 
Every  now  and  then,  he  would  ask  Belle  if  he 
was  putting  things  right. 

"  How  pleased  Lill  will  be,  Belle  !  I  am  so 
glad  I  spent  my  dollar  for  the  doll,  for  I  have 
broken  lots  of  Lilly's  playthings,  and  I  always 


BELLE  AND   LILLY.  11 

thought  it  was  good  fun ;  but  I  think  this  fun 
is  tho  best  after  all,  for  Lill  will  be  so  sur- 
prised, and  may  be  she  will  let  me  play  with 
her  more  now.  It  was  all  you,  Belle.  I  never 
should  have  thought  of  such  a  way  to  act. 
Nobody  ever  said  such  things  to  me  before." 

"  0  Harry,  how  pretty  she  is  !  See  !  "  and 
she  held  her  up.  "  She  is  all  dressed ;  aint 
she  pretty  ? " 

Lilly  made  a  sudden  movement,  —  they 
both  looked  around  and  saw  her  close  beside 
them,  and  knew  she  must  have  heard  all  that 
had  been  said.  Lilly  gazed  first  at  one  and 
then  at  the  other  in  mute  surprise,  then  seized 
the  dolly  and  kissed  it  again  and  again,  and 
then  hugged  Harry  and  Belle.  At  last  came 
her  words :  "  Harry,  I  am  sorry  I  told  mother 
you  were  ugly,  for  you  are  not  now ;  and  I  am 
so  sorry  I  pushed  you  down,  and  made  that 
great  bruise  on  your  head.  1  will  not  be  so 
cross  any  more."     And  she  kissed  him. 

Harry  was  a  warm-hearted  boy,  easily  moved 
and  easily  subdued.  He  had  never  seen  Lilly 
so  affectionate  before,  and  he  was  ready  to  love 
her  at  once. 


12  BELLE  AND  LILLY. 

"  Never  mind,  Lilly,  I  was  cross  too.  I  will 
try  not  to  be  so  any  more.  Perhaps  I  shall 
love  you  as  well  as  Belle,  some  time.,, 

Lilly  was  rather  mortified  by  his  last  speech. 
However,  she  managed  to  keep  from  showing 
it,  and  the  three  amused  themselves  very  pleas- 
antly together  for  the  rest  of  the  afternoon. 
Harry  brought  in  his  games  and  rocking-horse, 
and  they  had  fine  play. 

Thus  passed  the  first  half-day  of  Cousin 
Belle  at  her  new  home. 


CHAPTER    II. 

THE   CHILDREN'S   PARTY. 

Belle  had  been  about  six  months  at  her 
uncle's,  and  was  quite  reconciled  to  her  new 
abode.  Little  Harry  and  she  were  great 
friends ;  and  from  intercourse  with  his  cousin 
he  had  become  very  gentle  and  unselfish. 

But  Lilly,  although  often  by  impulse  pleas- 
ant and  affectionate,  was  too  vain  and  regard- 
less of  others,  naturally,  to  alter  a  great  deal 
so  soon ;  but  she  loved  her  cousin  Belle  dearly, 
and  would  yield  for  her  sooner  than  for  any 
one  else 

Que  day,  she  came  running  into  the  room, 
her  face  radiant  with  delight :  "0  Belle  !  to- 
morrow is  my  birthday,  and  mamma  says  I 
may  have  a  little  party.  Only  think,  I  am 
seven  years  old," — -and  she  stretched  herself 


14  BELLE   AND   LILLY. 

up  on  tiptoe  to  appear  as  tall  as  possible,  — 
"  and  mamma  says  I  may  have  twenty  little 
girls  and  boys  to  come  to  tea ;  so,  Harry  and 
Belle,  help  me  think  who  we  shall  invite. " 

Harry  clapped  his  hands  and  ran  dancing 
about  the  room  for  joy  ;  and  Belle's  eyes  spar- 
kled at  the  prospect  of  so  much  pleasure.  "0, 
is  n't  it  nice !  what  a  grand  time  we  will 
have  ! " 

"Yes,"  said  Harry,  "won't  we?  I  hope  you 
will  invite  some  of  the  little  boys,  —  Tom  Gill- 
more  and  Willie  Wilson,  —  for  I  love  them, 
and  we  can  have  fun  together." 

"  No,  no,  Harry  !  they  are  only  five  years 
old,  and  nothing  but  babies,  and  I  only  want 
those  that  can  dance." 

Harry  looked  disappointed.  "  Why,  I  am 
not  a  baby,  Lill,  and  they  are  just  as  old  as 
me ;  but  I  suppose  you  don't  want  me  in  the 
room  "  ;  and  he  turned  away  with  his  lip  just 
ready  to  cry. 

"  Now  don't  be  a  baby"  said  Lilly,  "  or  I 
am  sure  I  sha'n't  want  you.  Just  to  please 
you,  I  believe  I  will  have  Tommy  and  Willie, 
so  don't  be  cross." 


BELLE  AND   LILLY.  15 

Harry  cheered  up  at  once,  and  went  and 
kissed  Iris  unusually  good-natured  sister,  which 
kiss  she  received  as  grandly  as  if  she  were  a 
little  queen. 

"  Well,  Belle,  who  shall  we  invite  ?  You 
have  n't  said  a  word,  and  yet  you  looked 
pleased  when  I  told  you." 

"  1  am  pleased,  dear  Lilly,  and  more  pleased 
now  than  I  was  then,  because  you  have  been 
so  good  to  Harry.  I  suppose  you  will  invite 
all  the  girls  you  know  very  well,  and  that  will 
not  be  more  than  twenty." 

"  0  no  !  "  said  Lilly  ;  "  I  don't  want  Bessie 
Landon,  for  she  pushed  me  down  at  school  the 
other  clay ;  and  I  don't  want  Sallie  Sheldon, 
for  she  is  so  selfish  she  never  will  play  nicely ; 
and  I  don't  want  Letty  Lee,  for  she  is  so  poor, 
and  dresses  so  badly,  I  hate  to  look  at  her ; 
audi  —  " 

"  0  Lilly,  Lilly !  do  stop,"  said  Belle.  "  You 
are  running  on  so  fast,  by  and  by  you  will 
have  no  one  left  to  invite.  If  you  leave  out 
every  one  that  does  not  happen  to  suit  you,  or 
that  has  a  fault,  there  won't  be  many  left ;  and 
not  to  invite  a  girl  because  she  happens  to  be 


16  BELLE   AND  LILLY. 

poor  —  how  unkind !  Only  think,  Lilly,  if  you 
or  I  were  poor,  it  would  not  be  our  fault ;  and 
then  think  how  much  she  would  enjoy  it,  for 
she  does  not  have  many  pleasures,  and  she  is 
such  a  merry  little  thing." 

"  0,  well  let's  invite  her  then,  but  not  the 
others.     I  aint  a  going  to  have  them." 

"0  do  Lilly  dear !  do  have  them  all,  for 
you  know  we  would  not  like  to  be  left  out 
because  we  had  some  fault  or  other  which 
somebody  did  n't  like.  I  know  you  will  enjoy 
yourself  better,  to  invite  all  the  girls  that 
you  know  intimately,  without  regard  to  their 
faults." 

"  Well  then,  to  please  you,  I  will  invite  all 
my  class,  and  some  in  the  other  older  classes ; 
and  now,  £  am  I  doing  as  I  would  be  done 
by  ?  '  for  I  suppose  you  will  be  saying  that  to 
me  before  long,  —  you  always  are,  —  and  I 
don't  see  why  you  should ;  no  one  else  docs." 

"  Perhaps  I  do  tease  you  sometimes,  dear 
Lilly,  but  those  words  are  ever  in  my  mind ; 
they  were  almost  the  last  my  dying  mother 
said  to  me,  and  her  pale  face  and  gentle  voice 
impress  them  upon  my  heart,  and  I  think  some- 


BELLE   AND  LILLY.  17 

times  I  can  hear  lier  saying  them  to  me,  —  I  feel 
her  hand  upon  my  head,  and  her  soft  kiss  on 
my  cheek ;  that  is  why  I  say  them  so  often. 
But  I  hope  1  don't  plague  you  with  my  ser- 
mons, as  you  call  them." 

"  0  no,  Belle  dear!  but  I  do  like  to  please 
myself,  and  not  be  always  thinking  of  others, 
and  you,  it  seems  to  me,  never  think  of  your- 
self until  the  last.  I  wonder  if  /  shall  be  as 
good  in  three  years  !  I  don't  believe  it,  but 
may  be  so.  But  come  now,  don't  let  us  stand 
talking  any  longer,  for  we  must  go  and  in- 
vite." 

Away  they  went,  as  happy  as  bright  young 
hearts  could  be,  and  soon  the  little  folks  were 
bidden,  and  Belle  and  Lilly  back  again,  as 
rosy  and  fresh  as  a  nice  brisk  walk  in  the  cold 
air  could  make  them. 

Lilly  was  quite  excited,  and  could  talk  of 
nothing  but  the  party,  and  what  they  should 
do  to  amuse  themselves,  and  what  they  should 
wear.  Mrs.  Mordaunt  promised  to  play  for 
them  to  dance,  and  they  were  to  have  the  play- 
room, for  all  kind  of  games.  Before  the  two 
little  girls  closed  their  eyes  that  night,  all  the 

2 


18  BELLE   AND   LILLY. 

plans  were  arranged  for  the  morrow,  and  a 
fine  time  was  anticipated. 

They  found  it  hard  to  go  to  school  the 
next  morning,  and  attend  to  their  lessons. 
Lilly's  little  head  was  full  of  the  party,  and 
her  lessons  were  very  imperfect,  and  even 
Belle  missed.  At  intermission  nothing  else 
was  talked  of,  and  all  the  girls  clustered 
around  Belle  and  Lilly,  to  ask  questions  and 
to  rejoice. 

Miss  Millar,  the  teacher,  soon  found  out 
what  was  in  the  wind,  and  then  she  did  not 
much  wonder  at  the  imperfect  lessons.  If 
mothers  will  be  foolish  enough  to  let  their  chil- 
dren have  parties,  they  can't  expect  them  to 
study  at  the  same  time. 

As  soon  as  school  was  over,  they  hastened 
home  and  as  hastily  swallowed  their  dinners, 
eager  to  begin  to  dress  for  the  occasion. 

Lilly  had  improved  much  in  the  last  four 
or  five  months  ;  there  was  a  gentle,  kind,  sweet 
look  in  her  face  often  now,  and  she  was  so 
very  pretty,  that,  with  the  expression  of  amia- 
bility added  to  her  other  charms,  she  made  a 
picture  few  could  pass  without  a  second  look. 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  19 

Now,  in  her  light  blue  merino  dress,  neck 
and  arms  bare,  and  sleeves  looped  up  with 
coral,  and  a  coral  necklace  on  her  soft  white 
throat,  her  beautiful  golden  curls  falling  in 
such  rich  profusion,  shading  her  rosy  cheeks, 
and  her  eyes  sparkling  with  pleasure,  she  was 
indeed  a  little  vision  of  delight. 

Belle,  too,  was  very  lovely ;  although  not  as 
regularly  beautiful  as  Lilly,  there  was  an  an- 
gelic expression  in  those  dark  eyes,  and  a 
sweetness  playing  in  the  dimples  about  her 
small  red  lips,  that  was  very  bewitching ;  she 
was  dressed  like  Lilly  exactly,  —  except  she 
had  a  rose-bud  and  some  heliotrope  put  among 
the  dark  clusters  of  her  hair. 

She  had  improved  also  since  she  came  to  her 
uncle's;  being  in  better  health,  her  cheeks 
Wore  more  of  the  rose  hue,  and  her  figure 
was  more  plump  and  round ;  the  sadness  which 
then  seemed  the  prevailing  expression  of  her 
face  had  now  disappeared,  and  she  looked 
bright  and  happy. 

The  little  guests  have  all  arrived,  I  believe 
not  one  absentee.  Even  Lottie  Lee,  with  her 
best  mousselin-de-laine  on,  was  there;  and  al- 


20  BELLE  AND   LILLY. 

though  it  was  coarse  and  dark-colored,  yet  her 
brown  curls  looked  pretty  on  her  hare  neck, 
and  her  bright  black  eyes  danced  just  as  hap- 
pily as  if  she  had  been  dressed  in  silk.  Belle 
welcomed  her,  even  more  cordially  than  any 
one,  kissing  her  brown  cheek  and  putting  her 
arm  around  her  fat  little  waist. 

Boys  and  girls  all  proceeded  to  the  play- 
room, a  large  and  sunny  one,  on  the  southern 
side  of  the  house.  Here  were  all  the  thousand 
and  one  toys  which  Lilly,  Belle,  and  Harry 
had  collected.  There  they  had  a  fine  romp,  — 
tag,  hunt  the  slipper,  blind  man's  buff,  all  fol- 
lowed each  other  in  quick  succession.  All  was 
harmony  and  peace,  and  not  a  quarrel  was 
heard.  Mirth  and  joy  seemed  to  reign  in  every 
heart. 

When  tea  was  ready,  they  were  all  tired  out, 
and  quite  willing  to  sit  still  and  rest  awhile. 
All  the  little  folks  sat  around  a  long  table, 
which  was  loaded  with  an  abundance  of  good 
things,  to  which  they  did  ample  justice.  Then 
the  drawing-rooms  were  lighted  up,  and  Mrs. 
Mordaunt  invited  them  all  in  there  to  dance, 
until  time  for  departure.     The  parents  came 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  21 

in  the  evening,  and  were  quite  delighted  in 
watching  the  pleasures  of  their  darlings. 

Now  let  ns  amuse  ourselves,  watching  and 
listening.  See  Belle  in  the  dance  with  that 
noble-looking  boy ;  how  light  her  step,  and 
how  joyous  her  glance.  She  has  a  smile  for 
all,  and  how  lovely  that  smile  is.  Lilly  is  in 
the  same  set ;  she  does  not  know,  or  else  does 
not  choose  to  recollect,  that  as  hostess  she 
should  see  that  all  her  little  guests  were 
amused  before  she  enjoyed  herself.  She  was 
very  fond  of  dancing,  and  certainly  appeared 
like  a  little  fairy  when  she  did  dance ;  her 
very  soul  was  in  it ;  her  cheeks  rosy  with  ex- 
citement, and  her  eyes  and  whole  face  lighted 
with  animation. 

I  presume  she  does  not  imagine  that  every 
one  is  not  as  happy  as  herself,  and  does  not 
notice  the  two  in  the  corner  looking  so  discon- 
tented and  unhappy ;  they  are  evidently  help- 
ing each  other  on  in  their  sad  feelings.  We 
will  join  the  group  ere  long.  Not  far  from 
them  are  three  or  four  others  busily  engaged 
in  some  game  which  seems  to  excite  great 
laughter;  the  parents  and  relatives,  a  few  of 


22  BELLE  AND   LILLY. 

whom  were  invited  with  the  children,  are  look- 
ing on  with  much  pleasure,  greatly  amused  by 
the  sight.  Mrs.  Mordaunt  is  playing  for  the 
dances.  And  now  you  are  introduced  to  the 
guests,  let  us  listen  to  the  talk  of  the  two  we 
spoke  about,  Julia  Talbot  and  Alice  Ed- 
monds. 

*  I  don't  see  why  it  is,  Julia,  everybody 
likes  that  Belle  Harley  so  much.  She  isn't 
pretty  a  bit ;  and  so  stuck  up.  The  boys  all 
run  after  her,  as  well  as  the  girls.  There, 
Edgar  Morris  came  right  by  you  and  asked 
her  to  dance,  and  so  did  Harry  Page." 

"And  you  too,  Alice  ;  they  passed  you  too." 
And  she  cast  a  glance  of  dislike  upon  poor 
Belle. 

"  I  know  that,  Julia ;  but  then  you  are 
prettier  than  I  am,  and  certainly  as  pretty  as 
Belle,  and  dressed  much  handsomer." 

"  0  well,  Alice,  I  dare  say  they  thought 
they  must  ask  her  first,  and  then  may  be  they 
did  not  notice  us ;  but  I  never  did  like  Belle 
any  way,  —  she  pretends  so  much  goodness." 

The  girls  were  so  busy  talking  that  they  did 
not  notice  the  dancers  had  changed  their  posi- 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  23 

tion,  and  Belle  Harley  had  been  quite  near 
them  for  some  minutes.  Alice  had  been  enter- 
taining Julia  with  various  anecdotes  of  Belle's 
saintship,  and  of  her  always  trying  to  make 
others  appear  wrong,  <fcc,  when  suddenly  Julia 
looked  up  with,  "  0  dear !  I  wish  she  had 
stayed  at  home  with  her  father."  Her  eye 
caught  Belle's,  who  had  heard  the  whole,  and 
who  was  gazing  at  her  with  a  sad  look  and 
tears  on  her  cheek. 

"0  Alice,"  Julia  whispered,  "there  is  Belle, 
and  she  has  heard  every  word  we  have  said, 
and  I  am  so  sorry ;  I  don't  believe  she  is  so 
hateful,  for  she  don't  look  angry  at  all." 

"  Very  well,"  said  Alice  ;  "  I  am  willing  she 
should  hear.  I  have  only  said  what  I  thought. 
She  knows  I  don't  like  her ;  I  have  taken 
no  pains  to  conceal  it."  But  here  she  comes, 
so  I  will  leave  you —  " 

"  0  don't,  Alice,  don't  leave  me  just  now !  " 
But  she  was  off  like  a  flash ;  and  Julia,  blush- 
ing and  confused,  had  not  a  word  to  say. 

"  I  thought  you  were  both  dancing,  Julia," 
Belle  said,  in  a  sweet,  winning  voice,  "  until  I 
happened  to  come  near  you  a  short  time  ago. 


24  BELLE   AND   LILLY. 

Now  do  take  my  place,  dear,  won't  you  ?  for  I 
am  quite  tired."  And  she  looked  at  her  part- 
ner, who  of  course  asked  Julia  if  he  might 
have  the  pleasure. 

Jnlia,  surprised  and  altogether  confused  by 
this  pleasant  manner,  knowing  how  little  she 
deserved  it,  was  about  to  say  something  and 
decline ;  but  Belle  had  gone  before  she  recov- 
ered her  senses,  and  Edgar  led  her  to  the 
dance. 

The  next  thing,  Julia  saw  Belle  leading  a 
fine-looking  boy  up  to  Alice  to  introduce  her, 
and  soon  Alice  and  herself  were  dancing  in 
the  same  set,  where  they  forgot  their  ill-will, 
and  perhaps  were  ashamed  of  it. 

Julia  danced  with  great  animation ;  but  in 
the  midst  of  a  figure  a  clumsy  boy,  who  nearly 
fell,  caught  hold  of  her  dress  and  tore  a  long 
rent.  She  was  almost  pulled  over,  and,  in  the 
effort  to  save  herself,  broke  her  bracelet,  the 
beads  of  which  scattered  in  every  direction 
upon  the  floor. 

Julia  was  much  distressed.  Belle  was 
among  the  first  by  her  side  to  help.  She  left 
the  game  she  was  engaged  in  and  ran  to  her, 


BELLE   AND    LILLY.  25 

found  many  of  the  beads,  and  then  took  her 
to  another  room  to  mend  her  dress  for  her, 
first  substituting  another  in  her  place  for  the 
dance. 

Julia,  who  was  in  reality  very  tender- 
hearted, could  not  help  being  touched  by 
such  undeserved  kindness,  for  she  had  ever 
treated  Belle  coldly,  and  kept  her  at  a  dis- 
tance.    Now  she  said  to  her  :  — 

"  Why,  Belle,  how  can  you  treat  me  so 
kindly,  and  what  makes  you  so  affectionate  ? 
I  always  thought  you  cold  and  proud,  and 
not  caring  for  any  of  us,  because  we  were 
not  good,  and  you  heard  me  talking  about 
you,  and  saying  ugly  things,  and  yet  you 
leave  all  your  enjoyment  to  come  and  help  me, 
now  I  am  in  trouble  ;  I  am  sure  I  would  have 
been  g-lad,  to  see  any  one  /  disliked  in  trouble, 
but  your  plan  is  best,  dear  Belle,  for  you  have 
taken  all  the  bad  feelings  I  had  against  you 
from  my  heart,  and  made  me  long  to  be  like 
you  ;  a  little  while  ago  I  felt  as  if  I  hated 
you." 

Belle  smiled,  and  threw  her  arms  around 
the  excited  girl's  neck,  softly  whispering,  "  You 


26  BELLE   AND   LILLY. 

will  never  feel  so  again,  will  you,  Julia  ?  I 
dare  say  I  may  have  seemed  cold  aijd  re- 
served to  you  and  many  of  the  girls,  for  I 
have  been  sad  and  thinking  all  about  myself; 
so  I  did  not  look  around  me,  and  see  how  I 
could  help  others  enjoy,  or  care  what  others 
thought  about  me, — that  was  selfish,  and  I 
hope  I  shall  act  differently  in  future." 

The  girls  went  back  hand  in  hand,  and 
Julia  Talbot  was  ever,  after  this,  the  firm  up- 
holder of  Belle  Harley  and  her  sworn  friend 
upon  all  occasions. 

When  they  entered  the  parlor,  the  children 
were  all  busily  engaged  in  eating  ice-cream, 
candy,  nuts,  and  cake,  which  were  provided  in 
abundance.  Belle  and  Julia  soon  joined  in 
the  occupation;  how  unwise  in  Mrs.  Mordaunt, 
merely  to  indulge  a  love  for  show,  to  put  such 
a  variety  before  these  young  people, —  for  of 
course  none,  unless  they  were  prevented  by 
the  older  ones,  would  abstain ;  so  their  little 
stomachs  were  crowded  with  all  those  unwhole- 
some things. 

Belle  and  Lilly  were  very  delicate  children, 
yet  they  w£re  not  restricted ;  and,  knowing  no 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  *         27 

better,  they  ate  too  great  a  variety  of  the 
tempting  eatables.  The  consequences  may 
be  foreseen.  After  supper,  the  little  folks 
had  another  dance,  and  then  their  mammas 
thought  it  high  time  for  them  to  depart ;  so 
with  evident  reluctance  they  bid  good  night, 
expressing  most  rapturously  their  delight  in 
the  party,  and  hoping  some  one  else  would 
have  a  birthday  soon. 

Julia   and   Alice   walked    home    together. 
Julia  could  talk  only  of  Belle. 

"  0,  Alice,"  she  said,  "  I  said  a  great  many 
ugly  things  about  Belle  to-night,  and  have 
often ;  I  am  so  ashamed  of  them  all,  for  I 
love  her  now  and  always  shall,  and  only  wish 
/were,  or  could  be,  half  as  good." 

"  'Hem  !  "  said  Alice,  mockingly,  "you  have 
changed  very  suddenly,  to  be  sure ;  you  can 
like  her  if  you  choose,  and  everybody  else  can, 
but  I  never  will ;  she  is  always  looking  upon 
me  with  scorn,  and  setting  up  her  superior 
goodness,  and  I  hate  to  be  with  her,  —  she  is 
not  one  bit  like  the  other  girls." 

"  That  is,  because  other  girls  aint  half  as 
good  as  she  is,  and  so  her  presence  is  a  kin  \ 


28  BELLE   AND   LILLY. 

of  reproach  to  them  and  makes  them  feel  un- 
comfortable." 

"  Ah  indeed  !  and  since  when  has  Miss  Julia 
Talbot  became  so  good  as  to  enjoy  the  company 
of  the  little  saint,  —  about  two  hours  ago  you 
were  railing  at  her." 

"  I  know  it,  Alice,  I  know  it,  and  I  am  so 
sorry.  0  Alice,  I  did  not  mean  to  say  I  was 
any  better  than  you,  for  I  used  to  feel  just  so, 
but  if  you  could  only  have  been  with  us,  when 
she  was  so  gentle  and  kind  to  me,  who  had 
just  been  abusing  her ;  if  you  could  only  have 
seen  her  sad  face,  and  her  eyes  full  of  tears 
when  she  spoke  of  her  dear  mother,  and  have 
felt  her  loving  kiss  after  she  had  been  doing 
a  service  to  you,  —  especially  if  you,  like  me, 
had  never  been  anything  but  ugly  to  her,  —  I 
am  sure  your  heart  would  have  warmed  to  her 
as  mine  has,  and  you  would  be  sorry  that  you 
had  ever  felt  as  you  do." 

"  Well,  may  be  she  is  a  saint  or  an  angel ; 
but  I  don't  like  her,  and  never  shall." 

"  Don't,  Alice,  pray  don't  say  that,  —  I  am 
sure  you  will  repent  it." 

Alice  laughed,  as  she  said,  "  Good  night,  I 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  29 

am  home  now  !  I  hope  in  your  new  love  for 
Belle  you  will  not  give  up  old  friends,  Julia 
dear,  for  I  love  you  dearly  if  I  don't  her." 
So  saying,  with  a  kiss  they  parted. 

Let  us  stop  a  moment  to  speak  of  Alice. 
She  was  a  thoughtless,  selfish,  and  rather  dom- 
ineering young  girl;  but,  my  young  friends, 
she  had  no  mother.  When  she  was  an  infant 
that  tender-loving  parent  had  been  taken  away, 
leaving  her  and  her  brother  Alfred  with  their 
father,  a  man  absorbed  in  business  life,  and  he 
thought  if  they  were  only  well  fed,  well  clothed, 
and  sent  to  school,  that  all  that  was  necessary 
had  been  done.  The  training  of  the  immortal 
soul  was  never  in  his  mind.  I  doubt  whether 
he  ever  remembered  that  he  or  they  had  souls, 
or  that  it  ever  occurred  to  him  there  was  any 
pursuit  in  life  so  important  as  money-making. 
He  brought  to  his  house,  after  his  wife's  death, 
a  sister  of  his  own,  their  maiden  aunt,  just  as 
worldly  as  himself.  Her  system  of  education 
was  strict,  to  be  sure ;  but  the  law  of  love 
formed  no  part  of  its  element.  She  seldom 
looked  into  the  motives  for  action,  and  judged 
accordingly.     If  they  were  noisy  or  cross  or 


30  BELLE  AND   LILLT. 

meddlesome  or  impudent,  they  would  be  shut 
up  or  whipped.  Thus  their  finer  feelings  were 
blunted,  and  their  moral  nature  warped  and 
deformed.  So  let  us  pity  more  than  blame 
Alice  ;  the  envy  and  malice  which  filled  her 
breast  harmed  herself,  but  could  not  harm  the 
object  that  caused  it.  So  it  is  ever,  —  our 
evil  passions  turn  back  upon  our  own  souls. 
"They  are  like  chickens,  ever  coming  home 
to  roost.' ' 

Both  the  children  had  noble  qualities,  and 
one  redeeming  trait  was  their  affection  for 
each  other.  Some  power  may  yet  be  sent  to 
touch  their  hearts,  and  bring  forth  into  action 
that  virtue  and  goodness  which  now  lie  dor- 
mant. 


it*  : 


CHAPTER   III. 

SICKNESS. 

The  party  with  all  its  bright  anticipations 
was  over;  the  morning  sun  rose  gloriously  the 
next  day,  but  many  hours  had  he  been  in  the 
sky  ere  our  little  friends  opened  their  eyes  to 
his  light. 

Belle  was  up,  and  dressed,  her  morning 
prayers  over,  and  still  Lilly  moved  not,  save 
every  now  and  then  she  would  toss,  and  turn, 
and  moan,  in  her  restless  slumber.  At  last 
Belle  went  softly  to  her  bed  to  look  at  her. 
She  was  so  pale,  and  dark  under  her  eyes,  that 
Belle  was  frightened. 

"Lilly,  Lilly  dear,  are  you  sick?"  she 
whispered. 

Lilly  opened  her  eyes  languidly  and  tried  to 
speak,  but  she  only  muttered  something  not 


32  BELLE   AND   LILLY. 

intelligible ;  so  Belle  ran  quickly  and  called 
Katy,  who  was  in  the  next  room.  Katy  came, 
gave  one  look,  and  started  hastily  off  again  in 
search  of  her  mother. 

By  this  time  Lilly,  instead  of  being  pale, 
had  a  crimson  spot  on  each  cheek,  and  her 
eyes  were  opened  wide  and  staring. 

Mrs.  Mordaunt  was  terribly  alarmed,  and, 
as  usual,  lost  all  presence  of  mind.  She  wrung 
her  hands,  and  cried,  and  moaned,  exciting 
still  more  the  nervous  irritability  of  her  child. 

Belle  left  the  room  at  once  and  despatched 
a  servant  for  the  Doctor.  In  the  mean  time 
Mrs.  Mordaunt  was  pacing  backwards  and  for- 
wards, and  raving  that  her  "  Lilly,  her  idol, 
would  die." 

"  Auntie,  auntie,' '  said  Belle,  going  quietly 
up  to  her  and  placing  her  small  hand  in  hers, 
"  had  you  not  better  sit  down  still  beside  Lilly 
and  bathe  her  head?  don't  you  see  how  her 
eyes  follow  you,  and  how  restless  it  makes 
her  ?  " 

Her  attention  thus  called  to  it,  Mrs.  Mor- 
daunt aroused  her  faculties  and  really  became 
useful.    She  seated  herself  by  her  little  daugh- 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  33 

ter,  sent  Katie  for  ice-water  and  Belle  for  a 
sponge,  and  calmed  herself  as  well  as  Lilly. 

In  a  half-hour  Doctor  Rossitur  was  by  her 
bedside.  He  was  a  man  of  most  excellent 
sense,  able,  firm,  and  energetic,  and  was  more- 
over a  friend  as  well  as  physician. 

He  gave  one  glance  at  Lilly,  felt  her  pulse 
and  head,  then  said :  "  Your  daughter  has  the 
scarlet  fever,  madam !  It  is  prevalent.  But 
the  symptoms  are  accelerated  and  aggravated 
by  an  undigested  mass  upon  the  stomach. 
Has  she  been  eating  improper  food  lately  ?  " 

"  She  may  have  taken  too  much  ice-cream 
last  night,  and  too  much  cake,  and  perhaps 
nuts  and  raisins." 

"  Mrs.  Mordaunt,"  said  the  Doctor,  slowly 
and  sternly,  "  are  you  a  sensible  woman  and 
a  mother,  and  do  you  not  know  that  no  grown 
person,  much  less  a  child  of  seven  years,  ghoul  J 
take  such  a  mess  as  that  into  their  stomachs  ? 
If  she  recover  from  this,  I  will  only  say  she 
has  a  strong  constitution,  and  —  "  But  seeing 
the  look  of  terror  and  anguish  upon  the  face 
of  Mrs.  Mordaunt,  he  ceased,  and  soothingly 
added,  "  but  be  comforted,  madam,  it  is  her 

3 


34  BELLE   AND   LILLY. 

first  sickness  ;  I  will  do  my  best,  and  she  will 
have  good  nursing,  so  I  trust  all  will  be  well ; 
but  take  this  as  a  warning  and  a  lesson,  and 
learn  how  to  regulate  your  cliild's  appetite  in 
future." 

Then  turning  to  Belle,  who  stood  pale  and 
tearful  by  the  bedside :  "  You  had  better  not 
be  here,  child;  you  will  be  sick  next.  Did 
you,  too,  eat  only  nuts,  and  raisins,  and  cake, 
and  ice-cream  ?  " 

Belle  blushed  and  hung  her  head,  as  she 
replied,  "  Yes,  Doctor,  I  ate  some  of  those 
things,  but  not  a  great  deal,  and  i"  do  not  feel 
very  well  to-day." 

The  Doctor  looked  at  her  attentively,  and 
after  feeling  her  pulse  told  her  he  would 
write  her  a  prescription,  which  she  must  take 
faithfully  and  not  leave  her  room  again  that 
day,  and  on  no  account  to  come  near  Lilly 
until  he  told  her  she  could  do  so  with  safety. 

So  Belle  had  to  go  most  reluctantly  to  her 
(  \  i  room,  and  there  she  had  to  stay  for  a 
a  Oc,  feeling  wretchedly,  and  all  in  conse- 
f,  v  :ice  of  eating  improperly.  During  this 
v.iole  week  Lilly  raved  incessantly,  her  life 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  35 

hung  by  a  thread ;  and  poor  Mrs.  Mordaunt, 
the  picture  of  misery,  hung  over  her  couch 
night  and  day.  Katie,  too,  was  a  faithful 
nurse. 

At  the  end  of  the  week  the  child  sunk  into 
a  profound  slumber.  What  a  relief  to  the 
watchers  to  see  the  poor  disturbed  child  at 
rest !  to  see  a  sweet,  placid  expression  upon 
the  still,  pale  face,  instead  of  the  wild,  distorted 
look  and  rolling  eyes ! 

Mrs.  Mordaunt  threw  herself  upon  the  couch 
in  the  room,  and  slept  soundly,  too. 

"When  the  doctor  came  in  the  morning 
Lilly  was  still  sleeping,  but  Mrs.  Mordaunt 
was  bending  over  her  in  agony,  —  "My  child 
is  dead,  she  is  dead!"  —  and  she  fell  back, 
fainting. 

The  doctor  seized  a  glass  and  placed  it 
before  her  lips,  for  he  felt  no  pulse;  a  faint 
breath  suffused  the  glass.  "She  lives!"  he 
cried,  "  and  will  probably  arouse  out  of  this 
slumber  better ;  if  her  senses  are  returned 
when  she  awakes  she  will  recover.  Let  there 
be  no  noise,  not  a  sound  to  disturb  her ;  let 
nature  take   its   course.     Katie,  take  care  of 


36  BELLE   AND   LILLY. 

Mrs.  Mordaunt ;  I  will  watch  beside  Lilly,  to- 
day." 

Twelve  hours  longer  she  slept.  The  doc- 
tor kept  his  watch,  excluding  all  others  from 
the  room.  He  held  one  hand  ;  he  felt  the 
fingers  move ;  he  looked  in  her  face,  her  eye- 
lids were  unclosing,  and  a  very  faint  tinge 
came  upon  her  cheek  and  lips.  Now  a  sound 
escapes.  Ah,  how  he  listens  for  the  word! 
how  much  depends  upon  that  awakening  ! 

"  Mamma,  where  am  I  ?  where  have  1 
been  ?  " 

M  Lilly,  child,  you  have  been  sick,  but  keep 
still,  you  are  better  now." 

"  You  here,  doctor,  I  want  mamma,  and 
Belle." 

"  Well,  well,  child,  don't  talk  now,  and  they 
will  soon  come.  Thank  God,  thank  God,  she 
will  get  well !  "  —  and  the  good  doctor  wiped 
his  eyes,  as  he  turned  from  the  bed  and  got 
up  to  call  the  mother. 

I  will  not  describe  the  mother's  joy,  —  all  can 
imagine  that;  from  this  day,  Lilly  slowly  re- 
covered Belle  had  regained  her  usual  health 
and  was  permitted  to  come  again  into  the  sick 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  37 

room,  where  she  loved  to  be ;  and,  although 
only  ten  years  old,  she  was  an  able  assistant, 
for  the  spirit  was  willing,  the  love  was  in  her 
heart;  this  it  was  which  made  her  hands  active, 
and  her  sweet  voice  always  tender  and  gentle. 
Lilly  was  a  very  restive,  sick  child,  having  al- 
ways been  indulged  during  her  short  life  ;  she 
could  not  understand  now  the  necessity  of 
being  denied  all  the  good  things  she  wanted, 
and  she  rebelled  terribly  against  the  nauseous 
doses  she  was  compelled  to  swallow.  As  she 
grew  better  and  strong,  the  more  impatient 
and  fretful  she  became,  and  even  her  indulgent 
mother  found  her  very  troublesome.  Belle 
alone  could  influence  her,  and  Belle  she  could 
not  bear  out  of  her  sight;  she  forgot  in  her 
selfishness  that  any  one  else  could  be  weary. 

One  day  during  the  third  or  fourth  week  of 
her  illness,  Mrs.  Mor daunt  left  her  with  Belle 
for  an  hour  or  two,  leaving  directions  with 
Katie  to  attend  to  them. 

"  Shall  I  read  aloud  to  you,  Lilly  ?  I  have 
just  found  a  very  pretty  little  story  in  my  new 
book  that  father  sent  me,  would  you  like  to 
hear  it  ?  " 


38  BELLE   AND   LILLY. 

"  I  don't  know,  read  a  little  and  I  '11  see  ;  if 
it  is  all  about  religion  I  don't  want  to  hear  it ; 
begin  it,  and  if  I  don't  like  it  I  '11  tell  you." 

Although  the  assent  was  rather  ungracious, 
Belle  commenced,  for  she  felt  sure  she  could 
amuse  her  little  cousin  better  by  it  than  in  any 
other  way. 

The  story  was  about  one  of  the  poor  little 
match  sellers  that  frequent  the  streets  of  our 
large  cities.  A  little  girl  only  five  or  six  years 
old  was  sent  out  by  a  drunken  mother  every 
day  to  get  a  few  pence,  which  were  ever  appro- 
priated to  her  own  vile  uses.  If  the  poor  child 
failed  in  her  mission  she  had  to  get  a  beating ; 
it  was  a  very  sad  story,  and  both  the  children 
were  in  tears  over  it  soon. 

"  0,"  said  Lilly,  "  I  wish  I  had  been  there  !  I 
would  have  pinched  and  scratched  that  wicked 
woman,  and  I  would  have  run  away  if  she  had 
been  my  mother ;  I  never  would  have  spoke  to 
her  again." 

"  But,  Lilly,  may  be  she  had  been  good  to 
her  sometime ;  besides,  that  would  n't  have  been 
the  way  to  make  her  better,  by  being  bad  your- 
self, and  she  must  have  been  so  unhappy,  the 
poor,  wicked  woman." 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  39 

"  Well,  she  had  no  need  to  have  been  so 
wicked;  I  don't  see  why  you  pity  her." 

"  Are  we  always  good,  Lilly  ?  and  we  don't 
have  half  as  much  to  make  us  bad  as  the  poor, 
poor  people  have.  I  have  heard  papa  say,  that 
if  we  who  thought  ourselves  so  pure  and  right- 
eous had  one  third  of  the  temptations  that  the 
low  poor  have,  we  might  not  be  any  better,  if 
as  good." 

"  Well,  well,  you  talk  just  like  a  teacher, 
Belle  ;  but  go  on,  I  wait  to  hear  the  rest !  " 

Belle  continued  reading.  "  One  day  she 
went  out  when  it  was  very  cold,  the  snow  was 
on  the  ground,  and  the  frost  in  the  air ;  the 
sleighs  were  gliding  merrily  along  with  their 
gay  burdens ;  beautiful  women  and  sweet  little 
girls  and  boys  were  daintily  treading  the  streets, 
dressed  in  furs,  and  velvet,  and  lace,  and  satin. 
Men,  with  their  warm  cloaks  and  coats,  and  all 
of  their  faces  covered  up  but  the  tips  of  their 
noses,  passed  unheedingly  by,  when  this  poor 
little  solitary  being  of  six  years  crept  along 
with  her  bare  toes,  and  thin,  ragged  dress,  old 
shawl,  and  dirty,  tattered  straw  bonnet,  crying, 
4  Matches,  matches  to  sell,  who'll  buy  ? '     Her 


40  BELLE  AND  LILLY. 

voice  was  sweet  and  gentle,  though  weak  and 
low ;  her  face  was  very  pretty,  except  it  was 
so  'pale  and  so  sad-looking  and  so  thin.  Not 
far  had  she  travelled  ere  her  lips  refused  to 
speak  at  her  bidding,  they  were  so  stiff  and 
cold ;  she  tried  and  tried,  but  not  a  loud  word 
could  she  utter ;  then  the  tears  ran  down  her 
cheeks  and  froze  as  they  fell  upon  her  dress ; 
still  she  went  on  and  on,  until  her  feet,  too, 
became  stiff  and  numb ;  then,  no  longer  able 
to  move,  she  seated  herself  upon  a  door-step, 
and  burying  her  face  in  her  lap  sobbed  as  if 
her  heart  would  break :  <  0  dear !  0  dear ! 
what  shall  I  do  ?  I  have  sold  no  matches  and  I 
can't  go  any  further,  and  if  I  go  home  I  shall 
get  a  beating.  0  dear !  0  dear !  if  I  could 
only  die ! ' "  Here  Belle's  voice  failed  her, 
and  both  of  them  sobbed  aloud. 

"  Poor  little  girl ! "  said  Lilly,  as  soon  as  she 
could  speak,  "  that  is  a  great  deal  worse  than 
being  sick  as  I  have  been,  although  I  have  had 
to  have  so  much  pain  and  take  so  much  medi- 
cine." 

"  0  yes,  Lilly,  a  great  deal  worse,  for  you 
had  those  around  you  who  loved  you  all  the 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  41 

time,  and  heard  only  affectionate  words  and 
saw  only  kind  looks." 

"  But  yet  I  have  been  cross  and  impatient, 
and  sometimes  real  ugly  to  dear  mamma,  and 
so  peevish  and  fretful  to  you.  0  dear !  0 
dear  !  how  hard  it  is  to  be  good ;  how  I  wish  I 
could  be ! " 

"  I  am  sure  you  will  be,  dear  Lilly,"  said 
Belle,  soothingly,  "  if  you  wish  it  so  much. 
But  it  is  hard,  very  hard  ;  and  we  have  to  try 
so  long.  It  is  so  much  easier  to  be  naughty  I 
sometimes  think." 

"  Do  you  ?  "  said  Lilly  ;  "  do  you  ever  have 
to  try  to  be  good  ?  I  thought  you  did  not 
know  how  to  be  bad,  and  that  you  were  not 
at  all  like  other  children ;  for  all  I  knew  were 
sometimes  naughty,  but  you,  never  !  " 

Belle  blushed  at  such  undeserved  praise,  as 
she  thought,  and  replied  very  earnestly,  "  0 
Lilly,  how  can  you  talk  so,  when  you  have 
heard  me  so  often  speak  cross,  and  have  seen 
my  selfishness.  You  have  forgotten  about  the 
drawing  and  the  book,  I  guess ;  but  no  one 
knows  .how  much  I  struggle  with  myself,  or 
how  I  long  to  be  what  dear  mother  was." 


42  BELLE   AND   LILLY. 

"  The  book  and  the  drawing,  Belle !  what 
do  you  mean  ?  0, 1  remember !  when  Harry 
spoiled  your  drawing  you  called  him  a  clumsy 
fellow,  and  wished  he  would  learn  to  take  a 
little  care,  &c. ;  and  I  would  like  to  know  who 
would  n't  have  said  as  much  and  more  ;  spoil- 
ing your  beautiful  picture  that  you  had  been 
so  long  finishing,  and  —  " 

"  But  it  was  my  own  fault,  Lilly.  I  should 
not  have  left  it  about ;  and  besides,  even  if  it 
had  not  been,  it  did  no  good  to  make  little 
Harry  feel  badly.  It  did  not  better  the  pic- 
ture." 

"  Well,  I  don't  care,  we  can't  be  quite  like 
saints.  But  what  about  the  book?  you  have 
never  been  cross  about  any  book  that  I  know 
of." 

"  No  !  not  exactly  cross,  but  selfish ;  for  I 
wanted  the  handsomest,  and  seized  upon  it 
first  when  asked  to  take  my  choice." 

"  Well,  and  so  you  should,  for  papa  meant 
the  handsomest  for  you;  for  you  had  had  no 
New  Year's  present  from  him,  and  I  had  one 
or  two." 

"  Well,  dear  Lilly,  excuse  me  as  much  as 


BELLE  AND   LILLY.  43 

you  will,  it  shows  how  much  you  love  me ;  yet 
still  you  cannot  convince  me  that  I  was  not 
selfish  and  cross,  and  am  so  far  oftener  than  I 
ought  to  be.  And  now  let 's  read  on  ;  don't 
you  say  so  ?  " 

"  Yes,  yes,  do,  for  I  suppose  you  will  think 
as  you  please  in  spite  of  what  everybody  else 
says,  and  I  want  to  hear  what  became  of  the 
poor  little  girl."     So  Belle  read  on. 

"  There  she  sat  sobbing,  and  not  raising 
her  head  from  her  hands,  until  gradually  she 
seemed  to  get  all  over  stiff,  and  aching  in 
every  limb.  She  could  not  move.  People 
passed  and  repassed,  saw  her  sitting  there  but 
were  too  busy  about  their  own  matters  to  heed. 
Now  a  gentle  drowsiness  was  creeping  upon 
her,  and  she  began  to  feel  so  happy  her  head 
fell  over  on  her  shoulder;  and  her  face  had 
such  a  seraphic  expression,  it  surely  seemed  as 
if  angels  were  ministering  to  her.  Suddenly 
a  sweet  voice  seemed  to  whisper  in  her  ear. 
Its  tones  were  so  gentle  and  the  words  so 
kind,  that  the  little  girl  thought  she  had  really 
gone  to  that  heaven  she  used  to  hear  about 
when  her  mother  was  kind  to  her,  —  so  she 


44  BELLE   AND   LILLY. 

did  not  open  her  eyes,  and  she  could  not  speak 
again. 

"  '  My  poor  little  child,  what  are  you  sitting 
here  on  these  icy  steps  for?  What  do  you 
want  ?     Come  in,  come  in  with  me.' 

"  Then  there  was  a  little,  gentle  shake,  but 
still  no  answer ;  only  the  large  dark  eyes 
slowly  unclosed  and  gazed  for  an  instant  on 
the  beautiful,  kind  face  bending  over  her,  and 
then  closed  again,  while  her  lips  murmured, 
*  It  is  an  angel,  and  I  am  in  heaven  ! '  then 
again  she  sunk  back  more  lethargic  than  ever. 
Then  she  was  taken  softly  up  and  carried  into 
a  large,  splendid  house,  and  laid  upon  a  soft 
bed  in  a  cold  room,  and  rubbed  with  snow  and 
with  the  hands  until  the  warmth  began  again 
to  return  to  the  poor,  thin  limbs,  and  the  color 
to  the  faded  lips  and  cheeks.  Every  care  and 
attention  she  had,  and  her  young  spirit  was 
brought  back  again  to  earth ;  near  to  heaven 
it  certainly  had  been,  for  a  few  minutes  longer 
and  no  care  or  help  could  have  restored  her ; 
and  perhaps  you  will  say  far  better  had  it  been 
for  the  sorrowing  child  had  she  been  left  to 
depart ;  but  God  had  a  work  for  this  little  one 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  45 

to  perform,  — '  His  ways  are  not  as  our  ways.' 
Let  us  never  question  his  wisdom,  even  when 
all  seems  dark  to  us. 

"  The  lady  (would  there  were  many  such 
good  Samaritans)  had  her  washed  and  dressed 
neatly  and  warmly,  and  then,  when  she  was 
able,  asked  to  hear  her  story. 

"  A  lovely  little  fairy  of  about  her  own  age 
came  bounding  into  the  room  just  as  Nora 
was  commencing. 

"  '  0  mother,  mother  !  do  let  the  little  girl 
stay  here  and  be  my  little  sister ;  I  have  none, 
and  it  will  be  so  nice  to  have  her  to  play  with. 
You  will  stay,  won't  you  ? '  and  with  her 
own  little  delicate  hand  she  took  hold  of  the 
swollen  red  fingers  of  the  little  beggar  child ; 
*  tell  me  your  name  right  away,  and  let  's  go 
off  and  play.' 

"  The  lady  was  silent,  —  she  wished  to  hear 
the  child  answer. 

"  '  0  thank  you,  thank  you !  dear  little  lady,' 
said  the  pale,  forlorn  one ;  '  why  is  it  every 
one  is  so  good  to  me  ?  I  was  so  wretched  a 
little  while  ago,  and  thought  the  world  so 
ugly,  and  wanted  to  get  away,  — •  now  I  feel 
so  happy.' 


46  BELLE   AND  LILLY. 

"  The  little  Edith  stared  as  if  she  thought  it 
very  queer  what  the  child  was  saying,  then 
rushing  up  to  her  again,  rather  impatiently 
said :  '  Why  don't  you  come  ?  and  why  don't 
you  tell  me  your  name  ? ' 

"  <  My  name  is  Nora,  ma'am,  but  I  can't  stay 
here,  indeed  I  can't,  although  everything  is 
so  beautiful,  and  you  all  so  good.  I  must  go 
home  to  my  mamma,  for  she  is  sick,  and  I 
have  two  little  sisters  there,  and  who  would 
take  care  of  them  if  not  me  ?  but,  0  dear, 
dear!  I  hope  mother  will  not  beat  me  this 
time  if  I  have  n't  sold  any  matches  ! '  and  she 
looked  around  the  room  rather  alarmed,  for 
she  missed  her  basket.  '  My  basket,  my  bas- 
ket !     0,  where  is  it  ?  '  she  cried  in  agony. 

"  '  0,  never  mind  your  basket,  child,  it  was 
left  on  the  steps,  I  believe,  and  before  now  it 
will  be  gone ;  but  you  shall  have  a  new  one, 
and  have  it  well  filled  with  things  to  sell  better 
than  matches ;  but  if  your  mother  is  so  cross 
to  you,  Nora,  I  should  think  you  would  be 
glad  to  get  away  from  her.' 

" '  But  she  is  n't  always  cross  ;  sometimes  she 
seems  to  love  me,  and  cries  over  me  and  little 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  47 

sisters,  and  hugs  us,  and  says  she  wishes  we 
were  all  dead  together ;  and  when  she  is  get- 
ting well  from  her  dreadful  fits  she  is  very 
good  to  us  If  she  would  only  not  drink  what 
she  makes  me  get  for  her  in  a  bottle  whenever 
she  has  any  money,  I  think  she  would  never 
be  cruel  to  us.' 

"  '  Poor  child,  poor  child,'  said  the  lady, 
'  I  see  how  it  is ;  the  old  story,  rum  and  its 
consequences.  I  will  take  you  home,  and  try 
if  we  cannot  persuade  your  mother  to  be  rea- 
sonable.' 

"  '  And  so  Nora  is  a  going,  and  I  am  not  to 
have  any  little  playmate  after  all.'  And  little 
Editli  put  up  her  little  rosy  lip  very  much  as 
if  she  would  cry ;  but  her  mamma  patted  her 
little  curly  head  and  said  to  her :  "  Go  tell 
Rosy  to  put  on  your  coat  and  hat,  darling,  and 
you  shall  go  with  Nora  and  mamma  to  poor 
little  Nora's  home."  She  ran  off  speedily,  and 
soon  returned,  equipped. 

"  What  a  contrast  the  two  children  afforded. 
Edith,  with  her  fair  rosy  face  and  dimpled 
cheeks,  —  her  beautiful  golden  curls  hanging 
around  in  rich  profusion,  and  her  bright,  laugh- 
ing blue  eyes. 


48  BELLE  AND  LILLY. 

"  Nora,  with  her  pale,  sunken  cheeks,  her 
large,  heavy  black  eyes,  so  full  of  sorrow  and 
patience,  her  hair  in  tangled  masses  and  very 
dark,  and  her  clothes  so  scanty ;  although  the 
lady  had  had  her  cleanly  attired,  and  a  thick 
plaid  shawl  nearly  covered  her  slight  form, 
and  a  warm  hood  was  upon  her  head. 

"  Edith,  with  her  lovely  dark-blue  pelisse 
trimmed  with  fur,  her  beautiful  swan  down  tip- 
pet and  cuffs,  and  her  chinchiller  hat  trimmed 
with  rich  ribbon,  and  tied  under  her  sweet  lit- 
tle chin  with  the  same,  her  curls  showering  all 
around  beneath  her  jaunty  little  hat  upon  her 
tippet  and  coat.  She  looked  very  lovely,  and 
so  her  mother  thought,  as  she  drew  the  bright 
creature  close  beside  her,  and  motioned  the 
little  Nora  to  take  the  back  seat.  Nora  gazed 
at  her  as  if  she  had  never  before  seen  such  a 
vision,  and  she  thought  to  herself,  '  Why  am 
I  so  miserable  and  so  poor,  and  she  —  ?  but 
no  matter,  I  love  her,  she  is  good  to  me.' 

"  Mrs.  Vandyke  loaded  the  carriage  with  all 
kinds  of  things,  then  making  Nora  give  the 
direction  to  the  driver  they  set  off. 

"  0,  what  a  hole  of  wretchedness  was  that ! 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  49 

so  dirty,  so  dark,  and  damp ;  tho  child  ran  in 
exclaiming,  '  0  mother,  I  have  not  sold  any 
matches,  but  see  !  0  see  !  what  good  angels 
have  brought  us.' 

"  The  room  was  so  dark  that  she  did  not  per- 
ceive, for  an  instant,  (coming  in  so  from  the 
light  of  snow  and  sun,)  that  her  mother  lay 
upon  the  floor  apparently  struggling  in  the 
agonies  of  death.  There  was  no  fire,  and  the 
two  children  were  closely  wrapped  up  in  an 
old  dirty  comforter,  hugging  each  other  tightly, 
and  gazing  with  a  terrified,  bewildered  look  at 
their  mother. 

"  Nora  flew  to  her  side,  took  her  hand,  then 
wiped  the  cold  clamp  from  her  brow,  and  begged 
her  to  speak  once  more. 

"  She  heeded  nothing  save  her  poor,  dying 
mother ;  the  little  girl,  the  kind  lady,  all,  all 
were  forgotten  then  ;  little  Edith  clung  tremb- 
ling and  horrified  to  her  mother,  and  looked 
up  imploringly  to  be  taken  away. 

44  And  her  mother  took  her  back  into  the  car- 
riage, feeling  it  was  too  great  suffering,  too 
much  of  a  shock,  for  one  so  young,  and  so  un- 
used to  anything  but  joy. 


50  BELLE   AND   LILLY. 

"  Then  she  returned  and  helped  the  fright- 
ened Nora  to  attend  upon  her  dying  par- 
ent. 

"  She  spread  some  blankets  she  had  brought 
over  the  heap  of  rags  in  one  corner,  and  to- 
gether they  moved  the  poor  woman  into  the 
bed,  and  covered  her  warmly  with  shawls,  and 
after  administering  a  warm  drink  with  wine, 
the  woman  was  more  quiet,  and  soon  her  lips 
moved  as  if  trying  to  speak.  Nora  eagerly 
bent  down  her  head  in  order  not  to  lose  a 
word. 

" '  Have  you  come  back,  my  poor,  poor  child  ? 
I  thought  you  were  frozen,  and  the  terror  that 
thought  has  given  me,  —  Ah,  my  last  hours 
have  been  such  an  eternity  of  suffering,  all 
caused  by  my  own  sins  ! ' 

"  '  I  am  dying,'  she  gasped  ;  '  I  have  been 
so  cruel,  so  wicked  ;  but  want,  starvation,  has 
caused  —  all  —  and  —  then,  I  drank  —  to  drown 
my  miseries,  —  and   became  a  fiend  !      Nora, 

—  child,  —  come  nearer.     Let  me  kiss  you,  — 
forgive  me,  —  pray  for  me,  God  will  hear  you, 

—  you  are  so   good.     Let  me  see  —  Jessie  — 
Alice,  —  one  kiss,  —  and  now  I  go  ;  God  bless 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  51 

—  lady,  see  to  my  little  ones,  —  0  God!  0 
God!  forgive  me! — I  cannot  see;  Nora  open 
— 0  what  a  load  !  Nora,  bless — '  She  died 
with  her  sentence  unfinished,  and  whatever 
her  history  ere  she  sunk  so  low  was  buried 
with  her,  —  her  language  and  her  child's 
seemed  to  betoken  better  days. 

"  Nora  clung  around  the  wretched,  squalid 
body,  in  an  agony  of  grief,  —  for  as  bad  as  her 
mother  had  been  to  her,  she  was  the  only  one 
in  the  wide,  wide  world  who  had  ever  cared 
for  her,  except  her  sisters  ;  her  father  had  left 
them  to  their  fate,  long  ago,  after  abusing 
their  mother  and  them  in  all  ways  (so 
Nora  told  the  lady  afterwards) ;  she  felt  deso- 
late, altogether  desolate,  and  her  sobs  were 
piteous ;  the  little  ones  cried,  too,  because  sis- 
ter did,  for  they  had  been  so  in  the  habit  of 
seeing  their  mother  lie  for  hours  and  hours, 
perfectly  inanimate,  that  they  realized  nothing 
of  the  change. 

"  The  kind  lady,  who  had  done  so  much, 
came  gently  up  to  them  and  said  to  Nora,  '  My 
poor  child,  compose  yourself,  there  is  something 
to  be  done ;  now  the  best  way  for  you  to  con- 


52  BELLE   AND   LILLY. 

quer  yourself  is  to  act ;  run  into  some  of  the 
neighbors  and  get  them  to  come  and  get  your 
mother  ready  for  burial,  —  ask  them,  too,  if  you 
can  get  them  to  come  at  once,  and  say,  also, 
there  is  a  lady  here  who  will  pay  them  for  all 
they  do  ;  then  you  must  leave  this  room,  you 
and  the  children ;  come  with  me ;  when  all  is 
ready  for  the  burial  you  shall  return  to  see 
your  mother  to  her  last  resting-place.' 

"  Nora  did  as  she  was  bid.  By  the  light  of 
the  bright  fire  which  the  footman  built,  by  Mrs. 
Vandyke's  orders,  the  room  and  all  its  squal- 
idness  was  displayed.  '  Alas,  alas,  that  human 
beings  should  ever  be  so  degraded ! '  so  thought 
Mrs.  Vandyke  ;  but  did  she  know  and  realize 
all  the  miseries  and  horrible  temptations  of  the 
poor,  she  would  say,  '  Alas,  alas,  that  poverty 
should  cause  this  degradation,  and  that  so  few 
there  are  to  put  out  a  hand  to  keep  them  from 
their  misery !  ' 

"  Mrs.  Vandyke  took  the  poor,  desolate  or- 
phans home  after  their  mother's  burial.  The 
two  little  ones  were  placed  in  the  Orphan  Asy- 
lum; Nora  she  kept  for  her  own  maid,  or  rather 
for  a  companion  to  her  little  girl,  —  so  little 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  53 

Editli  had  a  playmate,  and  one  her  mother 
never  feared  to  trust  her  with  ;  she  proved  her- 
self lovable  and  useful,  both  mother  and  daugh- 
ter were  sorry  in  after  years  to  part  with  her. 

"  A  good,  kind  mechanic  asked  her  for  his 
wife,  and  one  *  well  to  do  in  the  world/  as 
Nora  said.  So  Nora  took  both  her  young  sis- 
ters to  live  with  her,  and  a  proud  and  happy 
day  it  was  for  her,  when  she  welcomed  them 
to  her  own  pretty  and  pleasant  home." 

"  0  Belle,  darling,  don't  that  end  nicely,  and 
is  n't  it  a  pretty  story  ?  but  now  I  am  tired  and 
must  lie  down,  so  help  me  to  bed,  won't  you  ? 
and  then  don't  leave  me,  for  I  so  love  to  have 
you  here." 

Belle  helped  her  to  bed,  tucked  her  in  nicely, 
and  then  sat  down  beside  her,  with  her  book 
in  her  hand ;  she  looked  very  thoughtful  and 
sad ;  at  last  she  exclaimed,  "  0  Lilly !  how  I 
long  to  be  a  lady,  that  I  may  be  able  to  go 
about' and  help  these  poor  people,  and  make 
them  happy,  don't  you  ? " 

No  answer ;  she  looked  towards  her  cousin, 
and  found  that  she  had  sunk  into  a  deep  slum- 
ber. 


54  BELLE  AND   LILLY. 

Belle  leaned  over  her  for  a  few  moments, 
thinking  how  beautiful  she  looked,  although 
so  pale  and  thin  ;  her  auburn  ringlets  were 
scattered  over  the  pillow,  one  or  two  fall- 
ing around  and  shading  her  face,  and  there 
was  an  expression  of  happiness  and  rest  upon 
her  features,  that  were  seldom  there  when 
awake. 

Lilly's  sickness,  however,  had  softened  her 
very  much,  and  the  constant  devotion  of  Belle 
endeared  her  to  her  heart,  so  that  she  obtained 
great  influence  ;  indeed,  all  the  household 
loved  sweet  Belle,  and  Mrs.  Mordaunt  had  not 
yet  become  so  enervated  by  worldliness,  that 
she  could  look  without  wonder  and  interest 
upon  the  gentle  child,  and  she  felt  that  there 
must  be  a  light  and  a  guide  within  her  heart, 
which  she  herself  had  never  known  or  acted 
by ;  this  constant  example,  and  the  extreme 
peril  that  her  idol  had  been  through,  opened 
her  eyes  to  look  within,  to  see  what  she  had 
been  living  for,  and  to  think  how  she  had  been 
neglecting  the  highest  interests  of  that  child  she 
thought  she  loved  so  much.  As  her  daughter 
gradually  but  surely  changed,  she  looked  upon 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  55 

life  with  a  truer  vision,  and  made  resolutions, 
which  were  kept.  Harry  now  came  in  for 
his  share  of  devotion,  and  altogether  they 
were  a  happier  and  a  better  family  than  be- 
fore Lilly's  sickness. 


CHAPTER    IV 


SCHOOL   DAYS. 


Lilly  and  Belle  went  to  school  together, 
as  I  believe  I  have  mentioned  before  ;  but  I 
have  not  spoken  of  their  school,  or  their  teach- 
ers, and,  as  Lilly  will  now  soon  be  well  enough 
to  go  once  more,  we  will  introduce  you  within 
its  precincts. 

It  was  a  very  large  school,  and  an  excellent 
one,  too,  although  a  free-school,  and  a  great 
many  rich  and  fashionable  people  sent  their 
children  there  because  it  was  so  good. 

Belle's  father,  Mr.  Harley,  knew  all  the 
plans  and  prospects,  and  was  thoroughly  con- 
vinced of  the  excellence  of  its  systems ;  and  it 
was  principally  that  Belle  might  attend  it,  that 
she  was  sent  to  her  aunt  Mordaunt,  and  that 
aunt   placing    great    confidence  in   the  judg- 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  57 

meiit  of  her  brother,  concluded  to  send  Lilly 
and  Harry  there  also. 

The  head  teacher,  Mr.  Burbank,  was  a  warm 
and  dear  friend  of  Mr.  Harley ;  they  were  at 
college  together,  and  had  been  like  brothers  to 
each  other. 

Mr.  Burbank  was  no  common-place  person ; 
he  entered  Cambridge  under  the  most  brilliant 
auspices.  The  only  son  of  rich  parents,  his 
father  high  in  position,  and  proud  of  that 
elevation  acquired  by  himself ;  his  most  ambi- 
tious hopes,  however,  centered  in  this  son, 
who  was  distinguished  for  his  quick  and  bril- 
liant talents,  his  remarkable  personal  beauty, 
and  his  generous,  noble,  and  manly  character ; 
he  graduated  with  the  highest  honors.  Bur- 
bank and  Harley,  the  inseparables,  bore  off  the 
palm ;  and  these  noble,  great-souled  young 
men  were  also  devoted  Christians.  About  a 
year  before  they  left  college,  their  minds  be- 
came interested  and  their  hearts  awakened ; 
from  mere  philosophy  and  indifference  they 
were  aroused  to  a  higher  life,  and  they  both 
resolved  to  devote  themselves  to  the  cause  of 
truth  and  goodness.     Harley  became  a  min- 


58  BELLE   AND   LILLY. 

ister  of  the  gospel,  and  Burbank  wished  to 
spend  his  life  in  the  cause  of  education.  For 
several  years  he  was  spending  time  and  money 
in  travelling  over  the  United  States,  visiting 
schools,  establishing  them  where  there  were 
none ;  and  then,  to  complete  his  parent's  cha- 
grin, he  turned  teacher  himself,  and  now  for 
the  last  five  years  he  had  been  Principal  in 
this  large  free-school,  with  eight  or  ten  teachers 
under  him.  What  wonder  that  Mr.  Harley 
wished  to  send  his  treasure  to  such  a  man  to 
learn  the  ways  of  wisdom  ! 

This  is  a  long  digression  from  my  heroines, 
but  I  trust  my  young  readers  will  not  find  it 
uninteresting,  and  they  will  better  understand 
the  influences  which  were  surrounding  and 
guiding  our  young  friends,  for  most  particu- 
larly did  this  good  man  watch  over  and  in- 
terest himself  in  the  little  ones  of  his  flock. 
He  had  never  married,  but  yet  his  heart  was 
full  of  love  and  gentleness  to  children,  and  his 
friend's  child  was  like  a  sunbeam  in  his  path  ; 
he  longed,  whenever  he  saw  her,  to  take  her  in 
his  arms  and  tell  her  how  dear  she  was  to  him, 
but  he  refrained,  and  never  in  school  hours 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  59 

did  he  allow  any  partiality  to  her  to  influence 
liim  in  the  least. 

The  good  in  the  school  loved  and  revered 
their  teacher,  and  glad  and  proud  were  they 
when  a  word  of  praise  or  a  smile  of  approba- 
tion rewarded  them  for  a  well-learned  lesson 
or  a  praiseworthy  action. 

The  bad  and  mean  and  envious  in  the 
school  (for,  alas !  there  were  such)  were  afraid 
of  him,  and  glad  to  keep  out  of  the  reach  of 
that  searching  eye. 

Among  the  children  that  surrounded  him, 
the  two  he  loved  most  were  Belle  and  Lilly, 
but  he  felt  more  compassion,  more  earnest, 
yearning  tenderness,  for  Alice  Edmonds  and 
her  brother.  He  knew  their  desolateness, 
knew  that  no  sweet  and  holy  influences  ever 
surrounded  them  at  home,  knew  they  needed 
most  his  care. 

Alice  had  many  noble  qualities,  but  they 
were  almost  hid  by  a  layer  of  pride  and  envy. 
Edgar  was  a  beautiful,  manly  little  fellow,  but 
from  constant  indulgence  had  grown  selfish, 
and,  in  consequence  of  little  or  no  moral  train- 
ing, had  acquired  many  bad  and  vicious  habits. 


60  BELLE   AND   LILLY. 

But  with  him  our  story  has  little  to  do ;  his 
sister  claims  our  attention,  with  the  other 
girls. 

It  is  the  commencement  of  a  new  term. 
Belle  and  Lilly  are  both  at  school  now,  but 
were  absent  all  the  last  part  of  the  other  term. 
It  is  February,  and  a  very  cold,  snowy  morn- 
ing ;  the  girls  were  welcomed  back  to  school 
with  great  joy  by  nearly  all  the  scholars,  for 
Belle,  in  particular,  was  a  great  favorite. 

A  knot  of  girls  are  assembled  around  her 
desk  now,  it  being  intermission  ;  among  them, 
Julia  Talbot  and  Alice  Edmonds. 

"  0  Belle,"  said  Julia,  "  do  you  like  our 
new  teacher,  Miss  Manners  ?  I  thought  you 
would  feel  so  badly  when  you  came  back  to 
find  our  dear  Miss  Millar  gone,  she  was  so 
pretty  and  so  sweet ;  but  do  you  like  this  one, 
Belle  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know  yet,  Julia ;  she  seems  to  be 
sad  and  reserved,  and  not  so  much  interested 
in  us  as  Miss  Millar,  but  perhaps  she  will  like 
us  better,  by  and  by." 

"  Well,  for  my  part,"  said  Alice,  "  I  can't 
bear  her,  with  her  proud,  stuck-up  ways.     I 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  61 

don't  believe  I  shall  ever  like  her,  although 
she  reads  and  draws  so  beautifully." 

"  But,  Alice,  don't  you  remember  how  good 
she  was  one  day  to  that  poor  child,  Jenny 
Gray,  when  she  fell  down  and  tore  her  dress, 
and  hurt  herself  so  badly.  You  know  the 
child  felt  worse  about  the  dress  than  anything 
else,  for  she  said  her  mother  would  be  so 
angry ;  so  Miss  Manners  spent  the  whole  inter- 
mission in  mending  it  for  her  so  neatly  you 
would  hardly  have  known  it  had  been  torn." 

"  I  dare  say  you  will  like  her,  Julia,  for  she 
favors  you  particularly,  I  don't  know  why,  — 
she  did  n't  let  you  go  down  the  other  day  until 
you  had  two  chances,  and  then  she  seemed 
sorry ;  for  my  part,  I  have  nobody  to  favor  me. 
'I  care  for  nobody  —  nobody  cares  for  me  ; '  " 
and  singing  that,  she  walked  away.  An  ex- 
pression of  pain,  however,  was  upon  her  feat- 
ures, and  she  evidently  hummed  the  air  to 
keep  clown  the  rising  tears.  Julia  saw  the 
expression  and  hastened  after  her,  and  putting 
her  arm  around  her  waist  they  went  out  of  the 
door  together. 

Belle  left  her  desk  and  ran  out  to  exercise 


62  BELLE   AND   LILLY. 

in  the  open  air  a  few  minutes.  She  met  at 
the  door  several  of  the  school  girls. 

"  0,  how  cold,  how  bitter  cold  it  is !  You 
had  better  stay  in  the  house,  Belle."  But 
Belle  was  off  in  a  moment. 

"Why  can't  we  always  have  summer,  it  is 
so  much  pleasanter ;  I  hate  winter." 

"  0,  I  don't,  Letty  !  I  love  winter,  the  snow 
is  so  beautiful,  and  the  icicles  that  hang  glit- 
tering in  the  sun,  sparkling  like  diamonds,  and 
the  frost  work  on  the  window-panes,  I  do  so 
love  to  see  all  these,  and  then  the  air  makes 
my  cheeks  glow,  and  I  feel  so  bright  and  so 
joyous  I  wish  it  was  winter  always." 

"  And  not  so  much  wonder  you  do  love  it, 
Bessie,  for  you  live  in  a  great  big  house  that's 
always  warm ;  you  ride  to  school  very  often, 
and  you  are  all  wrapped  up  in  furs ;  and  you 
have  plenty  of  people  to  wait  upon  you,  so  that 
you  never  need  go  in  the  cold  only  when  you 
like.  But  I  have  to  wait  on  myself,  and  help 
others,  and  to  go  into  cold  rooms  and  work 
until  my  fingers  are  stiff,  so  when  play  time 
comes  I  am  quite  willing  to  stay  by  the  fire 
and  keep  warm." 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  63 

"  Why,  Letty,  I  did  n't  know  you  had  any- 
thing to  do,  you  are  always  punctual  at  school 
and  generally  know  your  lessons  ;  when  do  you 
learn  them,  if  you  have  so  much  to  do  ?  " 

"  Evenings,  to  be  sure ;  and  that  is  the  pleas- 
ant part  of  winter,  to  sit  by  the  nice  blazing 
fire,  and  have  a  bright  light  and  the  round 
table  ;  then  1  feel  as  if  I  loved  it.  But,  Bessie, 
did  you  see  that  woman  and  little  child  sitting 
on  the  church  steps  as  we  came  to  school  ? 
poor  things,  I  guess  they  did  not  think  the 
snow  beautiful,  or  the  icicles  either !  " 

"  For  poor  folks,"  said  Bessie,  thoughtfully, 
"  it  is  bad,  —  I  did  n't  think  of  them.  No  !  I 
did  not  see  the  woman ;  tell  me  about  her." 

"  I  did  n't  stop,  for  I  thought  I  was  late  to 
school,  besides  I  had  nothing  to  give,  and  it 
was  of  no  use.  I  wonder  the  bell  don't  ring  ; 
what  a  long  intermission  we  are  having ! " 

At  this  instant,  in  flies  Lilly  Mordaunt,  her 
hood  half  off  her  head,  her  curls  flying  in 
every  direction,  her  cheeks  flushed,  and  her 
eyes  sparkling  with  excitement. 

"  0,  girls,  girls !  come  out  quick  and  see 
this  woman  in   the   yard,  and  this  beautiful 


64  BELLE   AND   LILLY. 

child.  Miss  Manners  is  talking  to  the  woman 
in  some  foreign  language,  and  she  seems  to 
know  her,  and  was  very  much  surprised  to  see 
her ;  do  come  girls,  you  never  saw  such  a  sor- 
rowful-looking little  girl,  although  so  pretty." 

"  Where  did  you  come  across  them,  Lilly  ?  " 
said  Letty,  as  they  both  followed  her  out.  "  I 
guess  it  is  the  same  couple  I  was  just  speaking 
of  to  Bessie." 

"  I  found  them  in  the  street,  and  the  child 
was  so  cold  I  took  hold  of  her  hand  to  make 
her  come  in,  and  the  lady  followed ;  but  seeing 
so  many  in  the  yard  the  child  was  frightened, 
and  ran  clinging  to  her  mother,  and  I  could 
not  get  them  in  the  house  ;  so  I  went  and  called 
Miss  Manners,  and  was  n't  it  queer  that  they 
knew  each  other  ?  " 

It  was  some  time  ere  the  teacher  returned ; 
when  she  did,  she  explained  to  the  scholars. 
The  poor  forsaken  creature  they  saw  was  once 
at  boarding  school  with  her,  —  a  French  girl, 
sent  and  supported  by  wealthy  parents,  but  she 
ran  away  from  school  with  an  Italian  adven- 
turer, who  called  himself  Count.  Her  friends 
had  in  consequence  cast  her  off,  her  husband 


EELL2    AND    LILLY.  65 

proved  worthless  and  had  since  died,  and  now 
she  was  alone  in  the  world,  with  this  child  to 
support,  —  for  she  scorned  to  call  upon  the  rela- 
tives who  had  so  coldly  deserted  her.  "  I  have 
taken  her  to  my  home.  My  girls,  I  see  you 
are  all  interested  in  her  and  that  lovely  child ; 
let  us  all  try  what  we  can  do  for  them.  But 
no  more  at  present;  to  your  desks,  to  your 
lessons." 

Without  a  word  the  girls  glided  to  their 
desks,  but  their  hearts  were  fall  of  the  poor 
strangers. 

As  for  Lilly,  her  lessons  were  half  learned, 
the  sad,  dark  eyes  of  the  little  Italian  girl  were 
floating  all  the  time  on  the  page  before  her, 
and  when  asked  where  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  first 
landed,  she  answered,  "  In  France  !  "  much  to 
the  amusement  of  the  whole  class ;  even  Miss 
Manners  smiled,  although  she  had  to  check 
the  mirth,  and  gently  reproved  Lilly  for  her 
badly-learned  lesson. 

After  school  the  girls,  with  their  teacher, 
who  really  seemed  to  have  thrown  off  her 
usual  reserve,  formed  a  plan  for  the  relief  of 
the  sufferers :  a  contribution  was  to  be  taken 

5 


6o  BELLE   AND   LILLY. 

from  all  the  girls  in  their  room ;  for  the  two  to 
board,  at  present ;  and  after  Madame  D'Osina's 
powers  had  been  tested  as  a  French  teacher, 
she  would  be  provided  with  a  situation  in  the 
school,  as  they  were  in  need  of  a  good  instruc- 
tor in  that  department ;  little  Maddalena  was 
to  be  a  scholar.  All  were  interested  in  the 
project,  even  Alice  Edmonds ;  and  Miss  Man- 
ners smiled  so  pleasantly  upon  them  as  they 
grouped  around  so  eagerly,  that  some  of  them 
wondered  how  she  could  ever  have  seemed 
cold  and  stern  to  them. 

We  cannot  hear  the  talk  of  all  our  young 
friends,  so  we  will  follow  our  favorites,  Belle 
and  Lilly,  and  listen  to  their  earnest  colloquy. 

"  Belle,  what  shall  I  do  ?  I  am  afraid  I  can't 
give  anything,  —  all  my  pocket  money  has 
gone.  0,  how  sorry  I  am  that  I  bought  that 
set  of  China !  it  cost  a  dollar  and  a  half,  and  I 
might  have  had  all  that  for  the  sweet  little 
girl,  and  now  I  have  not  a  cent ;  what  will  you 
give,  Belle  ? " 

"  I  have  but  a  dollar,  Lilly,  and  that  I  in- 
tended to  buy  the  Arabian  Nights  with,  I  do 
want  it  so  much  ;  but  I  must  wait  a  little 
longer  yet  before  I  get  it." 


BELLE   AND    LILLY.  67 

"  Why,  Belle,  what  did  you  do  with  those 
two  dollars  that  your  father  sent  you  a  month 
ago  for  pocket  money  ?  " 

Belle  blushed  deeply,  and  said,  "  0 !  it  is 
all  gone,  dear  Lilly.  I  bought  me  a  drawing- 
book  and  pictures,  you  know,  and  pencils." 

"  Yes,  yes,  but  those  did  not  cost  more  than 
a  dollar;  come,  Belle,  tell  what  have  you  been 
buying  that  no  one  has  seen  ?  " 

"  0,  I  have  a  dollar  left !  " 

"  Yes,  but  you  had  a  dollar  when  those  two 
came,  so  you  must  have  spent  it  some  way." 

Thus  pushed,  Belle  was  obliged  to  own  the 
truth. 

"  Lilly,"  she  replied,  "  don't  you  remember 
the  poor  image  boy  that  fell  and  broke  his 
whole  board  full  of  figures  that  day  in  the 
street,  when  it  was  so  slippery  ?  You  know 
how  distressed  he  was,  and  how  sad  he  looked. 
I  whispered  to  him  to  come  to  me  the  next 
day,  and  I  would  help  him  a  little  towards 
replacing  them.  I  gave  him  that  extra  dollar, 
and  if  you  could  have  seen  how  grateful  he 
was,  you  would  be  as  glad  as  I  that  I  had  it  to 
give,  it  did  me  so  much  good." 


68  BELLE    AND   LILLY. 

"  Belle,  what  a  queer  girl  you  are  !  why 
did  n't  you  want  to  tell  me  ?  You  are  always 
giving  away  your  money,  I  do  believe,  for  you 
have  very  few  toys  and  you  never  buy  candy, 
and  yet  you  are  just  as  happy,  and  happier, 
than  I  am,  and  I  am  always  spending  my 
money  in  candy  and  toys.  I  do  wish  I  could 
be  like  you.  0  dear  !  what  shall  I  do  now  for 
some  money  ?  I  must  ask  mother  to  give  me 
some  more." 

"  But  then,  Lilly,  it  won't  be  your  gift ;  you 
won't  be  doing  anything  for  them,  it  will  be 
your  mother's." 

"That's  true;  I  wish  I  could,  but  it's  no 
use  wishing,  and  the  money  will  do  just  the 
same  good." 

"  Well,  Lilly,  if  you  really  want  to  help 
yourself,  I'll  tell  you  what  to  do.  You  know 
your  mother  intended  to  get  you  a  new  silk 
apron  like  Alice's ;  why  can't  you  tell  her 
you  would  rather  have  the  money,  and  then 
you  can  give  a  dollar  to  them,  and  have  an- 
other left  for  the  image  boy  and  his  poor  little 
sisters  ?  " 

Lilly  looked  rather  downcast ;  she  could  not 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  69 

bear  to  give  up  the  beautiful  silk  apron,  and 
yet  she  longed  to  help,  —  the  sacrifice  was  a 
very  great  one  to  her,  for  the  love  of  dress 
was  already  one  of  her  "  besetting  sins." 

"  0  Belle,"  at  last  she  exclaimed,  "  how  can 
I  give  up  that,  when  I  have  been  wishing  for  it 
so  long !  I  told  Alice  only  to-day  that  mine 
would  be  prettier  than  hers.  No,  no,  Belle  ! 
that  is  too  much,  I  can't  do  that ;  but  I  will 
save  my  next  pocket-mor  ,  and  pay  mother 
what  I  borrow." 

"  But,  Lilly,  it  is  six  weeks  before  you  have 
your  next  allowance,  and  you  know  aunty  said 
when  you  had  the  last  that  you  must  make  it 
do  you,  for  you  could  not  have  any  more  until 
it  was  time." 

"  I  will  teaze  her,  Belle,  and  I  know  she  will 
give  up  just  this  once." 

"  0  Lilly,  darling!  if  I  could  only  persuadj 
you  to  try  the  other  way  now,  and  just  me  if 
you  won't  be  happier  than  the  silk  apron  could 
make  you  ;  and  then  we  will  each  go  to  school 
to-morrow  with  our  dollars,  and  feel  that  we 
have  made  them  happier,  —  that  we  ourselves 
have  done  good." 


70  BELLE   AND   LILLY. 

"  Here  we  are  home  already !  I  declare,  I 
scarcely  felt  the  cold,  did  you,  Lilly  ?  and  yet 
see  the  icicles  hanging  from  the  roof,  and  see 
the  trees  in  the  garden,  how  beautifully  the 
branches  glisten  in  the  sun,  all  encased  as 
they  are  in  the  ice!  it  must  be  very  cold." 

"  Yes !  it  is  so  cold  my  fingers  are  almost 
frozen ;  but,  Belle,  dear,  about  the  apron." 
And  she  looked  very  serious. 

"  We  will  talk  about  it  again,  and  in  the 
mean  time  think  it  over,  Lilly." 

"  0  Lilly  !  0  Belle  !  come  —  come  into  the 
yard,  do  !  "  and  Harry  ran  to  them  all  out  of 
breath,  and  clapping  his  hands  to  keep  warm. 
"  I  want  you  to  see  the  great  show  man  I  have 
been  making ;  I  made  it  all  myself,  and  it  is 
splendid  !  " 

"  No,  no,  Harry  !  I  can't,"  said  Lilly ;  "  I 
am  too  cold,  I  must  go  in  and  warm  myself." 

"  Well,  Belle,  now  you  will  come,  won't 
y  -i?     Lilly  never  does  care  about  my  fun." 

■■'■>  yes,  she  does,  Harry,  but  you  know 
r  *  is  n't  very  strong,  and  she  is  cold  now ; 
!  ■■■  1  am  not,  and  I  would  love  to  see  your 
; ... ./  man,  —  how  I  do  love  to  be  out  in  this 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  71 

cold,  clear,  bright  air !  0,  if  I  were  a  little 
girl  again,  and  could  slide  down  hill  in  your 
sled  !  " 

"  And  what  are  you  but  a  girl,  Belle  ?  and 
why  should  n't  you  slide  down  hill  ?  Come 
along,  do,  and  I'll  fix  you  all  nicely,  and  we 
will  have  such  sport.  There  is  a  nice  hill  close 
by,  so  we  will  look  at  the  man  and  then  go 
there." 

"  No,  no,  Harry  !  indeed  I  am  too  old  and 
too  large  for  such  play  now,  aunty  says,  and  I 
must  not  disobey." 

"  Well,  any  way,  I  can  draw  you  around  the 
yard  in  my  cutter,  and  then  we  can  build  a 
fort  and  snowball  it,  and  have  a  fine  time.  I 
am  so  glad  you  love  to  be  out,  I  never  thought 
you  would  be  such  a  good  hand  to  play,  you 
are  so  little,  and  so  thin  and  white." 

"  Why,  Harry,  how  you  compliment !  I 
thought  I  was  getting  very  fat  and  large  ever 
since  I  came,  I  have  grown  so  much,  and 
uncle  says  I  am  really  rosy.  So  you  need  n't 
tell  me  I  am  like  a  ghost  any  more." 

"  0  no,  Belle !  I  did  n't  mean  you  looked 
bad ;  0,  no  indeed !  but  so  different  from  Lilly, 


72  BELLE   AND   LILLY. 

with  her  fat,  round  face.  But  I  love  to  look 
at  you  better,  you  look  so  pleasant  always." 

The  snow  man  was  admired,  and  after  a 
fine  play  in  the  yard,  which  gave  them  great 
appetites,  they  went  in  together  to  dinner. 

And  Lilly !  where  was  she  all  the  time  ? 
She  was  sitting  in  the  library  with  her  feet 
upon  the  fender  before  a  bright  wood  fire,  and 
looking  intently  into  it,  deeply  meditating. 

Her  mother  was  there  too,  and  she  watched 
with  something  of  a  mother's  pride  the  thought- 
ful, lovely  face  of  her  little  Lilly.  After  a 
while  she  broke  the  stillness :  "  My  child,  what 
are  you  thinking  about  that  keeps  that  busy 
tongue  of  yours  still  so  long  ?  " 

"  Wait  a  little,  mamma  dear,  and  I  will  tell 
you  all  about  it ;  but  first  I  want  to  make  up 
my  mind." 

So  she  was  still  a  few  minutes  longer,  then 
jumping  up  she  threw  her  arms  around  her 
mother's  neck,  and  exclaimed,  "  Yes,  I  will 
do  it,  I  will,  —  I  won't  have  the  apron,  and  I 
will  have  the  money  !  " 

"  What  is  the  matter  with  you  ?  and  what  is 
all  this  about  the  apron  and  the  money  ?  you 
crazy  little  girl,  you  !  " 


BELLE   AND  LILLY.  73 

"  0  mamma,  little  Lena  and  the  French 
woman !  I  want  the  money  for  them,  for 
dear,  sweet  little  Lena." 

"  Try  and  compose  yourself,  my  child,  and 
tell  me  all  you  mean.  I  don't  understand  you, 
at  a&/5 

"Well,  I  will;  now  listen,  mamma,  and 
then  give  me  what  I  want." 

So  Lilly  told  quite  a  connected  story  about 
the  strangers,  which  we  will  omit,  as  you  know 
it  already. 

"  And  now,  mother,  I  want  you  to  give  me 
the  money  that  silk  apron  would  cost  which 
you  promised  me,  and  let  me  give  it  to  them, 
that  is  all." 

The  tears  came  into  Mrs.  Mordaunt's  eyes 
at  this  new  proof  of  Lilly's  efforts  to  conquer 
herself,  and  she  thought,  "  0,  that  I  may  learn 
of  these  ehildf  en  lessons  of  life  and  of  wisdom 
which  can  never  leave  me!" 

The  money  was  readily  given,  and  the  next 
day  the  two  girls,  as  happy  as  queens,  placed 
their  dollars  into  the  teacher's  hand  ;  —  their 
faces  were  radiant  with  goodness  and  love. 

Alice     Edmonds's     feelings    were     greatly 


74  BELLE   AND   LILLY. 

touched  also  by  this  tale  of  distress,  and  she 
brought  all  her  savings  for  some  time  and 
handed  them  in,  saying,  she  had  rather  spend 
it  so  than  in  the  story  books  she  meant  to  have 
bought. 

Miss  Manners  gave  her  a  sweet,  approving 
smile,  as  she  handed  her  contribution,  and 
Alice  was  rewarded  even  then.  "  0  may  be," 
she  thought,  "  I  can  make  her  love  me,  and  so 
few  do  !  0,  why  is  it  I  cannot  be  more  win- 
ning, like  Belle  Harley  ?  or  more  beautiful, 
like  Lilly  Mor daunt?  I  do  believe  I  am  be- 
ginning to  love  Belle  a  little,  after  all."  Alice's 
head  was  full  of  these  thoughts  as  she  went 
back  to  her  desk.  Belle  noticed  her  sad  ex- 
pression again,  and  thought,  "  I  wish  Alice 
liked  me  better,  and  would  ever  seem  glad  to 
see  me.  I  don't  think  she  is  very  happy,  and 
I  would  love  her  if  she  would  let  me,  but  she 
is  so  unkind  to  me  ;  well,  I  suppose  I  must 
love  her  in  spite  of  it ;  by  and  by,  she  will  un- 
derstand me  better."  How  little  did  Belle 
know,  at  that  very  instant,  that  Alice's  heart 
was  warming  towards  her  !  Thus  it  is  in  this 
world,  we  know  not  the  hearts  of  those  around 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  75 

us  ;  let  us  be  careful  then,  even  in  our  lightest 
words  or  actions,  to  spare  the  feelings  of  all. 

But  in  our  digression  we  have  left  our 
school  to  take  care  of  itself. 

Mr.  Burbank  came  in,  in  the  course  of  the 
morning,  to  say  that  there  would  be  a  public 
examination  at  the  end  of  the  next  quarter, 
five  months  from  that,  nearly.  There  would 
be  four  prizes  awarded  to  that  room :  the  first 
for  the  most  disinterested  and  best  behavior  in 
all  respects,  the  next  for  the  best  scholarship, 
the  third  for  the  finest  composition,  and  the 
fourth  for  the  best  drawing.  The  prizes  were, 
first,  a  small  rosewood  cabinet,  inlaid  with 
pearl,  in  which  were  twelve  volumes  of  the 
best  works  for  children ;  the  second,  a  very 
elegant  papier-mache  writing  desk  ;  the  third, 
a  gold  pen  and  pencil ;  the  fourth,  a  valuable 
and  very  handsome  paint-box. 

"  I  tell  you  thus  early,"  Mr.  Burbank  went 
on  to  say,  "  in  order  that  all  may  have  a  fair 
and  long  trial.  Some  have  been  sick  this 
quarter,  and  some  have  been  absent.  Now 
girls,  all  exert  yourselves,  and  let  us  see  at 
the  next  public  examination  what  pride  and 


76  BELLE  AND  LILLY. 

glory  we  shall  have  in  you.  At  the  end  of 
this  quarter  there  will  be  our  usual  examina- 
tion ;  all  the  marks  will  be  preserved  in  order 
to  show  the  progress  as  we  advance."  He 
talked  to  them  all  in  a  kind,  affectionate  man- 
ner some  time  longer,  asked  a  good  many 
questions,  which  were  answered  very  promptly 
by  many  voices,  and  then  left  the  room. 

The  girls'  eyes  shone  with  delight,  and  each 
little  heart  resolved  to  win  the  victory. 

Alice  Edmonds  was  now  the  head  of  all 
in  her  studies.  Her  mind  was  uncommonly 
bright  and  active,  but  she  was  often  lazy,  and 
sometimes  stayed  at  home  from  choice,  and 
sometimes  from  sickness ;  so  that  Belle,  who 
came  next,  and  Julia  Talbot  next,  often  stood 
higher.  Of  this  quarter,  about  six  weeks  had 
passed,  and  Belle  had  been  absent  half  of  it, 
owing  to  Lilly's  sickness.  Now,  however,  she 
was  determined  to  make  up  for  lost  time  ;  she 
longed  to  win  the  prize  in  scholarship  to  please 
her  dear  father,  whom  Belle  loved  with  a  de- 
votion few  children  display  towards  their  par- 
ents. Since  her  mother's  death  her  heart  was 
more  closely  than   ever  entwined   about  her 


BELLE    AND   LILLY.  77 

father,  and  to  please  him  was  one  of  the 
greatest  objects  of  her  life.  The  separation 
was  a  bitter  trial  for  both,  but  harder  for  the 
father ;  his  one  ray  of  sunshine,  his  loving  com- 
forter, his  sweet  daughter,  to  part  from  her 
was  sad  indeed,  but  for  her  sake  he  could  do 
it,  and  his  sacrifice  will  be  rewarded ;  there 
was  no  good  school  where  he  lived  and  was 
settled,  and  his  own  duties  were  too  onerous  to 
attend,  as  he  wished,  the  education  of  Belle. 
Other  motives,  too,  impelled  him  to  send  her 
to  his  sister.  Mrs.  Mordaunt  was  the  only 
sister,  —  he  had  always  loved  her  with  the 
most  tender  love ;  she  was  still  very  young, 
only  twenty-five,  and  very  beautiful.  He  knew 
her  heart  had  been  untouched  by  the  spirit 
which  alone  could  give  true  joy  and  peace, 
knew  she  was  gay  and  worldly,  and  he  wisely 
thought  the  constant  presence  of  his  lovely 
and  pure  child,  the  influence  of  her  simple, 
natural,  and  fervent  piety,  would  be  an  unfail- 
ing and  daily  example  which  would  be  hard 
to  resist.  "  Out  of  the  mouths  of  babes  and 
sucklings  has  Thou  ordained  praise."  His 
heart  yearned,  too,  over  the   beautiful  little 


78  BELLE   AND   LILLY. 

Lilly ;  he  knew  liis  sweet  flower  would  impart 
some  of  her  own  fragrance  to  the  most  neg- 
lected garden,  so  he  let  her  go,  feeling  he  had 
done  wisely.  Her  little  brother  was  but  two 
years  old,  and  of  course  but  little  comfort  to 
him ;  and  as  he  was  sickly  he  was  very  back- 
ward. They  both  seemed  to  inherit  their  mo- 
ther's frailness  of  constitution,  and  the  father 
trembled  as  he  gazed  upon  their  transparent 
complexions  and  large,  brilliant  eyes. 

But  to  return  to  our  scholars  after  this  long 
digression.  We  left  them  quite  excited  by  the 
prospect  of  being  victors.  A  few  moments 
after  Mr.  Burbank  left  the  room,  intermission 
was  given;  the  girls  separated  into  cliques, 
and  were  eagerly  discussing  the  subject  of  the 
prizes.  . 

"  I  suppose/'  said  Alice  Edmonds,  "  Belle 
Harley  takes  it  for  granted  she  will  get  the 
prize  for  goodness ;  but  she  won't  for  anything 
else,  at  any  rate." 

The  tears  came  to  Belle's  eyes  at  this  un- 
kind remark,  and  she  turned  away  her  face, 
without  speaking. 

"  For  shame  !  Alice  Edmonds,  —  for  shame ! 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  79 

why  do  you  take  such  pains  to  be  ugly  to 
Belle  Harley  ?  I  am  sure  she  is  always  good 
to  you." 

"It  is  nothing  to  you,  Bessie  Gray,  what  I 
say  to  any  one.  I  think  she  has  a  tongue,  and. 
can  speak  for  herself.' ' 

"  Yes,"  said  Belle,  recovering  herself,  "  I 
can  speak ;  but  I  am  afraid  I  have  nothing  to 
say  you  will  wish  to  hear,  for  all  I  can  say  or 
do  will  not  change  your  feelings  towards  me, 
and  I  think  perhaps  I  had  better  be  silent." 

"  0  Belle,"  said  Lilly,  "  you  are  too  meek 
by  half !  Why  don't  you  give  Alice  as  good  as 
she  sends  ?     I  would,  I  guess." 

"  Well,  I  wish  she  would.  I  do  believe  I 
should  like  her  better  if  I  could  make  her 
angry ;  but  no  matter  what  I  say,  she  is 
always  just  so  patient  and  looks  like  an  in- 
jured martyr,  and  it  provokes  me  ;  why  should 
she  be  so  different  from  the  rest  of  us  ?  " 

"  I  know,"  said  Lilly,  in  reply,  "  that  I  love 
her  better  than  I  do  all  the  rest  put  together ; 
and  I  know,  too,  that  when  I  am  the  best  I 
love  her  the  most,  and  if  you  were  more 
amiable  may  be  you  would,  too." 


80  BELLE  AND   LILLY. 

"  Well,  Lilly  Mordaunt,  I  don't  think  you 
will  make  me  more  amiable.  I  sha'n't  come 
to  you,  little  miss,  for  lessons." 

"  No  one  wants  you  to,"  replied  Lilly,  still 
more  warmly ;  "  the  less  you  come  to  me  the 
better." 

"  0  hush,  hush,  Lilly  !  don't  talk  so,  and 
get  so  angry.  Indeed,  you  will  only  make 
Alice  dislike  me  more  ;  besides,  you  are  un- 
kind now." 

"  I  don't  care  !  her  love  is  n't  worth  having, 
and  she  sha'n't  abuse  you  to  me."  And  the 
warm-hearted  child  threw  her  arms  around 
Belle's  neck. 

Belle  kissed  her  affectionately,  and  turning 
to  Alice,  said,  "  Don't  be  angry  with  Lilly, 
Alice,  for  it  was  in  her  love  for  me  she  forgot 
herself." 

"0,"  said  Alice,  turning  away  and  walking 
off,  "  I  don't  care  what  she  says ;  it  makes  lit- 
tle difference  to  me.  As  I  say  often,  '  I  care 
for  nobody,  nobody  cares  for  me.'  " 

Julia,  Lettie,  and  Bessie,  and  the  sweet  little 
Lena  (Lilly's  sworn  friend),  too,  cast  indig- 
nant glances  at  Alice  as  she  left  them,  and  the 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  81 

words  ugly,  mean,  shameful,  were  muttered ; 
and  she  caught  them  all,  as  she  strode  off 
alone. 

Poor  girl,  how  much  more  is  she  to  be  pit- 
ied than  the  one  she  sought  to  annoy !  and  at 
this  moment,  if  her  pride  would  have  allowed, 
she  would  have  asked  Belle's  pardon  for  her 
unkindness  ;  it  was  envy  that  made  Alice  so  un- 
just. Before  Belle  came  to  the  school,  she  was 
first,  not  in  the  girls'  affections,  but  as  leader 
and  ruler,  and  she  could  not  bear  a  rival ;  so 
all  her  bad  qualities  were  brought  out,  which, 
as  long  as  she  could  rule,  did  not  appear.  She 
was  generous,  bright,  and  full  of  fun  and  frolic, 
and  with  a  strong  will  she  had  in  a  measure 
led  all  the  girls.  They  referred  to  her  in  all 
cases  of  dispute,  as  well  as  amusement,  and 
often  had  her  imperious  temper  made  the  quar- 
rel, which  might  have  been  healed  by  a  peace- 
maker, more  vehement  and  the  parties  more 
bitter  against  each  other. 

Since  Belle  came  among  them,  gradually  all 
this  changed.  Belle  was  the  arbiter,  Belle  was 
the  judge ;  the  little  girls  seemed  to  feel  that 
her  rule   was  the  best;   her   sweet,  soothing 

6 


82  BELLE   AND   LILLY. 

spirit  and  her  gentle  words  of  counsel,  with 
the  help  of  her  motto,  "  Do  unto  others,"  &c, 
always  had  their  effect.  The  golden  rule  came 
to  be  a  motto  for  others,  as  well  as  herself, 
and  almost  all  the  little  girls  wrote  it  in  all 
their  books.  This  state  of  things  vexed  and 
irritated  the  proud  spirit  of  Alice,  and  made 
her  act  at  times  as  if  she  hated  Belle. 

The  conversation  continued  after  Alice's  de- 
parture. Julia  Talbot  remarked  that  she 
thought  little  Jennie  Gray  would  get  the  prize 
for  conduct,  for  she  is  never  naughty,  and  never 
does  wrong  in  school. 

"  I  think  so  too,  Julia,"  answered  Belle, 
"  and  I  do  hope  so,  for  the  dear  little  thing 
will  be  so  delighted." 

"  Why,  Belle,  don't  you  want  it  ?  I  am  sure 
she  is  not  better  than  you  are,"  said  Lilly. 

"  Yes  she  is,  Lilly  dear,  and  she  has  im- 
proved far  more  than  I  have ;  with  naturally  a 
quick  temper,  she  tries  harder  than  I  do  to 
conquer  it,  and  then  too  she  is  more  careful. 
I  am  often  reproved  for  leaving  my  books 
about,  and  she  never  ;  now  carelessness  is  bad 
conduct,  or  leads  to  wrong,  always." 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  83 

Bessie.  "  Yes,  you  have  that  fault,  and 
that  is  the  only  one  I  know,  Belle,  and  you 
think  more  of  that  than  any  one  else  does. 
If  I  could  only  be  as  good  as  you  are,  how 
happy  I  should  be,  and  how  happy  I  could 
make  mother ! " 

Belle.  "  Bessie,  it  makes  me  sad  to  have 
you  talk  so  ;  how  little  you  know  me  !  0,  how 
much  I  do  and  say  and  feel  every  day  and 
hour  that  is  wrong,  and  yet  I  do  not  mean  to 
disparage  myself;  I  know  I  try  very  hard,  and 
that  is  a  good  deal.  But,  Bessie,  do  not  take  me 
for  a  pattern ;  take  Him,  who  was  once  a  little 
child,  and  who  blessed  little  children  ;  He,  who 
gave  us  our  rule,  that  beautiful  rule  which  we 
have  all  written  in  our  books  now,  and  I  trust 
in  our  hearts,  too." 

"What  is  it?"  said  little  Lena;  "tell  me, 
won't  you  ?  I  never  heard  any  rule,  except 
ma  mere  tells  me  never  to  trouble  any  one,  or 
to  be  rude,  and  always  to  obey." 

"  Lilly  will  tell  you,  darling,  she  has  prac- 
tised it  so  well  in  regard  to  you." 

"  0  hush,  hush,  Belle !  pray  don't  tell  her 
that!" 


84  BELLE  AND  LILLY. 

"  Yes  yes,  do  tell  me !  what  did  Lilly  do  for 
me,  that  I  don't  know  ?  she  is  always  helping 
me  in  some  way,  —  dear  Lilly ;  "  and  Lena  ran 
and  threw  her  arms  around  her  affection- 
ately. 

"  Well,  well,  Lena!  come  away  with  me  and 
I  will  tell  you  all  about  Belle's  '  golden  rule,' 
as  she  calls  it." 

"  Not  mine,  Lilly  !  although  /would  like  to 
follow  it." 

Lena  and  Lilly  went  off,  hand  in  hand. 

Lena  was  already  the' pet  and  plaything  of 
all  the  girls  ;  she  was  only  five  years  old,  and 
very  small  for  her  age,  and  thoughtful  as  most 
children  of  twelve,  —  made  premature  by  want 
and  suffering.  Her  large,  lustrous  eyes  were 
intensely  sad  in  their  expression,  her  clear 
dark  complexion  unrelieved  by  a  shade  of 
pink,  her  mouth  and  teeth  beautiful,  and  her 
hair  fell  in  soft  waving  curls  of  jetty  black 
nearly  to  her  waist ;  should  she  get  fat  and 
rosy  now  that  she  is  so  happy,  dimples  might 
play  about  that  cherub  mouth,  and  some  of 
the  spirituality  of  expression  might  give  place 
to  a  more  child-like  and  gleesome  look. 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  85 

Lilly  having  been  the  first  one  to  notice 
the  child  and  make  her  known,  the  first  one 
who  had  brought  joy  to  her  heart,  she  at- 
tached herself  with  peculiar  fidelity  to  he?-; 
to  be  near  her,  to  run  for  her,  to  do  any  little 
service  in  any  way,  was  joy  enough  for  Lena. 

Julia,  Bessie,  Lettie,  and  Belle,  talked  for 
some  time  longer  about  the  examination,  and 
when  the  bell  rang  they  were  in  the  midst  of 
a  discussion  about  a  picture.  Belle  and  Julia 
had  to  copy  a  landscape  of  great  beauty ;  Julia 
thought  it  too  difficult,  but  Belle  liked  it  be- 
cause there  was  so  much  foliage ;  Julia  liked 
best  to  draw  water  scenes,  so  she  determined 
to  ask  Miss  Manners  to  allow  her  to  change  it 
for  William  T  ell's  chapel, — which  request  was 
afterwards  complied  with. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  LAST  DAY  OF  THE  QUARTER. 

The  months  sped  quickly  by,  although  to 
some  of  those  anxious  hearts  they  seemed  to 
drag  along.  The  girls  had  all  done  marvel- 
lously well  the  last  quarter,  so  Miss  Manners 
encouragingly  told  them,  and  to  some  of 
them  her  beaming  looks  of  love  and  approba- 
tion were  of  more  value  than  even  the  prizes ; 
well  had  they  all  learned  to  love  that  reserved 
teacher,  as  they  used  to  call  her,  —  to  win  her 
smiles,  and  to  receive  an  affectionate  word, 
was  as  much  striven  for  as  good  marks ;  even 
Alice  loved  her,  and  tried  more  than  ever 
she  had  done  in  her  life  before  to  obtain  her 
love,  —  how  well  she  succeeded,  time  must 
prove. 

And  now  the  last  day  of  the  quarter  had  ar- 
rived. 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  87 

Lilly  came  home  from  school  the  day  be- 
fore, in  a  great  state  of  excitement. 

"  Mother !  mother  ! "  she  cried,  as  soon  as 
inside  the  doors,  "  where  are  you?"  and  she 
flew  to  the  library  ;  "  mother,  to-morrow  is  the 
day,  —  the  examination,  —  and  you  and  father 
must  come  !  and  Belle  and  I  must  wear  our 
nicest  dresses,  for  there  will  be  ever  so  many 
people  there  ;  and  0,  mother,  you  don't  know 
how  few  bad  marks  I  have  had  this  quarter, 
and  how  high  I  stand  in  my  studies  !  I 
don't—" 

"  Well,  well,  Lilly,  child ;  stop  a  moment 
now  to  take  breath  !  Have  you  run  all  the 
way  from  school,  that  your  hair  is  all  flying 
in  every  direction,  your  bonnet  half  off  and 
cheeks  so  very  red  ?  do  you  expect  to  get  a 
prize,  that  you  are  so  excited,  dear  ? " 

"  0  no,  mother,  I  don't !  only  perhaps  a 
medal  or  a  token  from  Miss  Manners,  to  show 
I  have  improved  ;  for,  mother,  how  could  you 
suppose  that  I  could  stand  higher  than  Belle, 
or  Julia,  or  Alice,  or  ever  so  many  others 
older  and  smarter  ?  " 

"  But  I  think  there  should  be  prizes  awarded 


88  BELLE  AND  LILLY. 

to  the  smaller  children,  or  if  not,  then  the 
prizes  should  be  given  to  those  who  have  im- 
proved the  most,  in  comparing  the  last  quar- 
ter with  this ;  not  to  the  one  or  ones  who  have 
the  most  marks." 

Belle,  who  had  come  in  during  this  last  ob- 
servation, replied :  — 

"And  so  it  is  to  be,  aunty,  —  that  is  the 
way  I  understand  Mr.  Burbank  ;  and  Lilly  will 
have  one,  I  rather  think,  for  I  heard  Miss 
Manners  say  to  Mr.  Burbank,  sk«e  thought 
Lilly  Mordaunt  had  improved  more  during 
the  last  four  months  than  any  girl  in  school ; 
there  was  a  great  change  in  her." 

"  Did  you,  Belle,  did  you  ?  0,  how  glad  I  am ! 
for  now  I  can  feel  as  if  I  could  in  time  be  of 
some  use  to  dear  little  Lena.  It  is  all  you, 
Belle  ;  I  never  thought  of  trying  to  be  good 
until  you  came  here." 

The  tears  came  to  Mrs.  Mordaunt's  eyes; 
Lilly  saw  them  in  a  moment  and  sprang  to 
kiss  them  away,  —  "  0  mother,  dear,  I  did  not 
mean  to  — to —  " 

"  I  know,  Lilly,  my  darling,  you  did  not 
mean  to  reproach  your  mother  ;  it  was  invol- 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  89 

untary,  but  deserved,  dear.  Yes,  my  Lilly,  I 
feel  that  I  owe  as  much  as  you  to  our  dear 
Belle.  God  was  good  when  he  sent  her  among 
us." 

"  It  is  God  who  has  come  to  your  heart,  it 
is  all  his  spirit, — I  am  only  a  little  child  of  his 
sent  to  love  you  all ;  but  I  am  so  happy,  so 
very  happy,  when  I  can  think  that  I  have  been 
of  use  to  those  I  love  so  dearly." 

"  How  happy  we  all  are  together,  mother 
dear!  Harry  and  I  now  can  agree  very  well, 
and  it  seems  to  me  I  love  everybody  a  great 
deal  better  than  I  used  to." 

"  That  is  always  the  way,  dear  child  ;  when 
we  forget  ourselves  in  others,  we  not  only 
make  them,  but  us,  gainers.  I  have  learned  a 
great  deal  in  the  last  year,  as  well  as  you, 
Lilly,  and  feel  as  if  I  had  only  now  begun  to 
live  ;  when  I  felt  as  if  God  was  taking  away 
from  me  my  treasure,  then  my  eyes  began  to 
open.  Ah,  my  Lilly,  may  you  never  suffer  as 
I  have  !  " 

Lilly  was  seated  in  her  mother's  lap ;  she 
threw  her  arms  around  her  neck,  and  looked 
up  at  her  with  earnest  love  in  her  sweet  eyes ; 


90  BELLE   AND   LILLY. 

her  mother  kissed  her  tenderly  and  left  the 
room. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  give  an  account 
of  each  and  every  day  of  those  four  months, 
so  we  have  taken  the  liberty  of  passing  over 
time,  and  bringing  you  to  the  very  morning 
of  the  examination.  All  school-girls  know 
what  school-life  is, — its  joys  and  sorrows,  its 
excitements,  —  and  therefore  we  only  wish  to 
seize  the  principal  events,  and  endeavor  in 
those  to  show  our  little  friends  and  their  com- 
panions so  that  they  may  be  to  you  living  char- 
acters, and  that  you,  my  little  readers,  may 
make  them  your  friends. 

We  must  say  a  word  of  Alice,  who  has  dur- 
ing the  whole  of  the  last  quarter  kept  very 
much  to  herself,  and  studied  diligently ;  there 
is  hardly  a  doubt  but  that  she  will  get  the 
prize  for  scholarship,  as  she  has  kept  her  place 
at  the  head  of  the  class  in  spite  of  all  efforts 
of  others  to  dethrone  her ;  even  when  sick  she 
has  studied,  and  never  a  day  of  absence ;  —  her 
strongest  motive  and  most  powerful  incentive 
being  to  keep  the  prize  from  Belle,  —  to  con- 
quer her.     And  now  let  us  enter  the  room. 


BELLE  AND   LILLY.  91 

The  girls  have  arranged  it  gracefully  and 
beautifully,  with  wreaths  of  evergreen  and 
paper  flowers ;  the  teacher's  desk  is  a  perfect 
bower,  and  flowers  seem  blooming  in  every 
direction,  —  above,  below,  around. 

Miss  Manners,  the  beloved  teacher,  has  taken 
her  place ;  her  cheeks  were  tinged  with  a  faint 
glow,  and  her  eyes  were  moist  with  loving 
pleasure,  as  she  looked  around  at  the  circle 
of  girls,  and  then  at  the  proof  of  their  love  for 
her. 

A  great  many  happy  faces  were  assembled 
in  the  school-room  that  morning;  most  radiant 
of  all  was  Lilly's.  Belle's  words  had  never 
been  out  of  her  thoughts  ;  and  a  sweet,  pleased 
expression  made  her  face  beautiful  indeed. 

Belle  was  a  good  deal  excited  also ;  she 
knew  Alice  and  herself  stood  even  now  as 
to  marks  in  lessons,  and  it  all  depended  on 
to-day's  recitations.  The  prize  for  drawing  she 
felt  almost  secure  about,  for  she  had  seen  all 
the  others,  and  she  could  not  help  thinking  her 
own  the  best;  besides,  the  drawing- teacher  had 
often  said  that  Belle  Harley  would  get  the 
prize,  and  upon  this  picture  -she  had  bestowed 
great  praise. 


92  BELLE   AND   LILLY. 

Alice  Edmonds  looked  pale  and  unhappy, 
although  there  was  a  triumphant  sparkle  in 
her  eye  that  said  plainly,  I  shall  carry  off  some 
of  the  honors. 

The  girls  were  all  neatly,  and  some  very 
prettily,  dressed ;  and  many  were  the  sweet 
faces  that  met  your  eye  as  you  glanced  around 
that  sunny,  pleasant  school-room. 

The  visitors  had  arrived.  And  school  girls 
know  what  a  nutter  the  presence  of  visitors 
always  causes  in  their  hearts ;  there  were  forty 
or  fifty  ranged  around  the  room. 

The  classes  in  arithmetic,  grammar,  geogra- 
phy, reading,  and  spelling  all  passed,  and  very 
finely,  too ;  none  missed,  or  few  at  least,  on 
that  day.  Thus  far  Alice  and  Belle  were  alike, 
except  that  Alice  stood  at  the  head,  which 
would  give  her  the  prize  if  she  passed  this 
day  triumphantly. 

Now  came  intermission.  The  girls  all  ea- 
gerly ran  to  their  mammas,  papas,  uncles,  or 
aunts  ;  but  Mr.  Burbank  enters,  and  smilingly 
welcoming  the  band  of  children,  asked  the 
visitors  into  his  other  apartments  to  listen  to 
the  boys  awhile,  as  their  intermissions  were 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  98 

not  at  the  same  time.  Then  the  children  all 
rushed  out,  according  to  Miss  Manners' s  ad- 
vice, to  have  a  play,  and  feel  refreshed  for  the 
still  harder  duties  coming,  —  all  hut  Alice. 
She  remained  poring  over  her  books,  for  she 
had  had  such  a  headache  the  night  before  that 
she  could  not  study  at  all.  There  was  no  one 
in  the  school-room  but  Alice  and  Miss  Man- 
ners, and  Miss  Manners  was  very  busy  at  the 
desk,  looking  over  and  comparing  marks. 

Suddenly,  Alice  leaves  her  seat  and  goes  to 
Belle's  desk,  evidently  looking  for  something. 
She  holds  the  desk  open  a  long  while.  "  How 
beautiful ! "  she  utters ;  "  0,  she  will  get  the 
prize  for  drawing,  mine  is  nothing  to  it  1 " 
Well,  it's  only  the  third  prize,  she  thought, 
let  Iter  have  it. 

A  hasty  movement  of  the  arm  caused  an 
overthrow  of  something,  then  came  an  earnest 
and  terrified  ejaculation ;  she  looks  up  and 
around,  pale  and  frightened,  but  perceiving 
no  one  has  noticed  her,  takes  the  book  she  was 
hunting  for,  looks  into  it  for  something,  re* 
places  it,  and  goes  back  to  her  own  desk.  All 
this   time   Miss   Manners   seemed  wholly   ab- 


94  BELLE  AND   LILLY. 

sorbed  in  lier  task,  yet  she  had  seen  and  heard 
all ;  not  a  word  or  a  look  betrayed  that  knowl- 
edge, for  she  wished  to  see  what  the  result 
would  be. 

Miss  Manners  had  long  been  watching  Alice 
with  interest,  —  had  noticed  her  envy  of  Belle, 
knew  her  situation,  her  temptations,  —  knew, 
too,  that  she  had  many  fine  and  noble  qual- 
ities. She  felt  deeply  interested  in  the  girl, 
and  wished  to  root  out  from  her  heart  those 
unamiable  traits  which  now  not  only  made 
others,  but  herself,  unhappy.  She  thought  and 
hoped  yet  to  see  her  two  most  brilliant  schol- 
ars friends,  loving  friends,  therefore  she  deter- 
mined not  to  interfere  in  this  matter,  but  to 
trust  to  Alice's  nobler  nature  triumphing,  and 
unless  it  were  necessary  for  justice  she  would 
speak  no  word  to  implicate  Alice. 

Alice  went  back  to  her  seat  and  tried  to 
study ;  but,  alas,  she  had  lost  the  power  !  All 
her  thoughts  would  fasten  themselves  upon 
the  work  of  destruction  she  had  accomplished, 
and  although  she  did  not  really  intend  to  do 
it,  yet  she  was  not  sorry  it  was  spoiled,  and 
she  was  determined  to  keep  her  secret.     No 


BELLE  AND  LILLY.  95 

one  will  know  who  did  it,  and  Belle,  who  is 
always  rather  careless,  will  think  she  knocked 
it  over  herself;  she  had  no  business  to  have 
left  her  cork  out,  she  deserves  it  for  that,  and 
now  I  don't  believe  she  will  get  any  prize,  and 
I'm  glad  of  it.  So  she  tried  to  think,  and  so 
she  would  say  over  and  over  to  herself,  and 
yet  the  vision  of  that  lovely  picture  all  defaced, 
and  of  poor  Belle's  sorrowful  face  when  she 
saw  it,  would  come  between  her  eyes  and  the 
book,  and  make  her  uneasy  and  unhappy ;  in 
spite  of  herself,  it  was  in  vain  to  try  to 
study. 

Julia  Talbot  came  up  to  her ;  she  had  just 
come  in  from  a  nice  run. 

"  Come,  Ally,  do  come  out  and  exercise  a 
little !  you  look  as  pale  as  if  you  had  seen  a 
ghost.  I  know  you  will  feel  better,  and  recite 
better,  if  you  will." 

"  Well,  Julia,  I  believe  I  will,  for  my  head 
is  throbbing  so  I  can't  study ;  besides,  I  know 
the  lesson,  so  well,  the  whole  book  pretty  much 
I  can  repeat,  I  have  studied  so  hard  this 
winter." 

So  off  they  went.     After  a  half-hour's 


96  BELLE   AND   LILLY, 

the  girls  were  all  once  more  seated  at  their 
desks. 

The  history  class  was  called  ;  the  girls  came 
up  before  the  teacher's  desk  and  stood  while 
reciting. 

"  Miss  Edmonds,  give  a  brief  and  clear  ac- 
count of  the  reasons  our  forefathers  left  their 
own  shores,  the  manner  in  which  they  did  so, 
also  a  portion  of  their  subsequent  history  upon 
landing. " 

Alice  began  very  well,  looking  bright  and 
clear;  but  soon  she  hesitates,  blunders,  and 
mixes  up  her  account  in  such  a  manner  that 
Miss  Manners,  surprised,  looked  keenly  at  her, 
saying  :  — 

"  Collect  yourself,  Miss  Alice,  you  are  cer- 
tainly thinking  of  something  else ;  this  is  one 
of  the  simplest  questions,  one  you  surely  can 
answer  well  if  you  will  think  one  moment.'* 

Thus  rebuked,  Alice  recalled  her  wondering 
thoughts,  commenced  the  answer  again,  and 
succeeded  very  well. 

"You  nearly  lost  your  place  this  time," 
whispered  Belle,  "  take  care." 

"  Don't  fear,  you  are  not  going  to  beat  me 
this  quarter,  Miss  Belle." 


BELLE   AND    LILLY.  97 

"  Young  ladies,  no  talking !  Miss  Harley, 
I  am  under  the  necessity  of  asking  a  question 
twice." 

Belle  blushed  deeply,  but  feeling  herself 
wrong,  said  nothing.  However,  she  had  lost 
one  mark  as  well  as  Alice. 

*'  Give  an  account  of  the  Pequod  war :  its 
origin,  progress,  and  termination." 

The  question  was  answered  promptly  and 
well. 

Julia  Talbot  gave  an  account  of  the  causes 
of  the  Revolution,  and  during  it  quite  an 
amusing  description  of  the  overthrow  of  the 
tea,  and  some  humorous  anecdotes  of  the 
opposition  to  the  stamp  act. 

Bessie  Gray  was  called  upon  for  a  descrip- 
tion of  some  of  the  principal  battles,  and  the 
recital  of  the  dangers  and  difficulties  of  our 
revolutionary  veterans. 

All  acquitted  themselves  well  upon  this  day 
at  least,  although  some/or  better  than  others. 
Julia  missed  once,  as  also  did  Lettie  Brown; 
but  the  class  was  an  intelligent  one,  and  they 
showed  plainly  they  understood  what  they  were 
studying. 


98  BELLE   AND   LILLY. 

I  will  not  weary  my  young  readers  by  a  de- 
tailed account  of  each  recitation,  suffice  it  to 
say  that  they  all  passed  off  well,  Alice  still 
retaining  her  seat  triumphantly  until  the  class 
in  mathematics  was  called.  This  was  a  hard 
trial  for  her,  with  her  aching  head  and  guilty 
thoughts ;  she  was  all  mixed  up  in  her  ideas, 
got  terribly  confused,  and  at  last  answered 
wrong  altogether  ;  her  problems  were  not  de- 
monstrated properly,  and  she  made  bad  work 
of  it ;  at  last,  pleading  a  severe  headache,  she 
left  the  class,  and,  mortified  and  ashamed, 
went  to  her  seat. 

In  spite  of  all,  she  had  failed,  and  Belle 
would  glory  over  her.  0,  how  she  hated  her 
just  then,  and  how  full  her  heart  was  of  bitter- 
ness !     Poor  girl,  she  was  indeed  to  be  pitied. 

What  an  expression  of  delight  was  upon 
Belle's  sweet  face  when  she  found  she  had 
indeed  obtained  the  victory ;  for  although  she 
felt  sorry  for  Alice,  it  was  not  in  a  young  girl's 
nature  not  to  rejoice  at  the  success  for  which 
she  had  worked  so  hard,  and  the  flush  of 
pleasure  was  upon  her  cheek  as  she  passed 
to  her  seat;  but  she  had  to  pass  Alice,  and 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  99 

then  her  joy  vanished.  Alice's  face  was  buried 
in  her  hands,  and  she  was  sobbing  bitterly. 

Belle  could  not  resist  speaking,  and  leaning 
over,  she  whispered,  "  Alice,  dear  Alice,  don't 
cry  so ;  indeed,  you  deserve  the  prize  after  all, 
for  it  was  only  your  sickness  that  caused  your 
failure.  I  will  say  this  to  Miss  Manners,  and 
you  shall  not  lose  your  place  ;  so,  dear  Alice, 
cheer  up." 

Alice  did  not  move,  or  speak.  And  then 
came  a  voice  from  the  desk  :  — 

"  Miss  Harley,  out  of  order  for  the  second 
time.     I  am  surprised  !  " 

Blushing  all  over  her  face,  Belle  went  to 
her  seat.  Fortunately  the  lessons  were  all 
over,  or  I  fear  that  Belle  too  would  have 
missed. 

Next  the  compositions  were  read,  some  of 
which  were  remarkably  pretty,  and  would 
have  done  credit  to  older  heads. 

Julia  Talbot's,  upon  school  days,  was  beau- 
tiful. Bessie  Gray's,  upon  poverty,  had  some 
fine  thoughts,  and  was  prettily  expressed. 

Belle's  was  upon  poetry,  and  had  in  it  a  few 
verses  of  her  own,  which  were  very  musical  in 


100  BELLE   AND   LILLY. 

their  rhythm,  although  not  strikingly  original 
in  thought.  These  over,  Miss  Manners  called 
for  the  drawings. 

There  was  a  general  opening  of  desks. 
Each  young  lady  came  forward  in  order  to- 
hand  their  picture,  beginning  with  the  one 
nearest  the  desk. 

Alice  was  first,  she  came  forward,  but  her 
usually  pale  face  was  crimson ;  this  might  have 
been  the  result  of  weeping.  Next  came  Julia, 
and  then  Bessie  Gray,  and  now  was  Belle's 
turn. 

She  moved  not  from  her  seat,  but  her  head 
was  bowed  upon  her  desk,  and  she  seemed 
weeping. 

"  Miss  Belle,"  said  Miss  Manners,  gently, 
"  what  is  the  matter  ?  where  is  your  picture, 
is  it  not  finished  ?  why  those  tears  ?  " 

Belle  tried  to  speak  but  could  not,  at  last 
Miss  Manners  stepped  to  her  desk.  Belle  held 
up  to  her  view  the  beautiful  sketch,  all  de- 
faced by  streams  of  ink  in  every  direction. 

"  How  did  this  happen,  Belle  ?  "- 

"  I  don't  know,  indeed,  but  I  suppose  I  must 
have  left  my  inkstand  open,  and  then  over- 


BELLE    AND   LILLY.  101 

turned  it  without  knowing  it ;  but  I  looked 
at  it  just  before  I  went  out  at  intermission  and 
it  was  all  right,  and  I  have  not,  that  I  remem- 
ber, opened  my  desk  since.  0  dear,  I  am  so 
sorry !  for  this  was  to  be  a  present,  —  a  present 
to  you,  Miss  Manners,  and  it  was  so  pretty." 
And  then  her  tears  flowed  afresh. 

Alice, — how  did  she  look  and  feel  all  this 
time  ?  she  tried  to  seem  unconcerned,  but  her 
face  had  a  guilty  look,  and  if  any  one  had  sus- 
pected her  they  would  have  noticed  it.  .  Miss 
Manners  gave  her  one  glance,  and  knew  all  the 
story ;  but  still  she  thought  it  best  to  wait  a 
little  longer,  and  let  Alice's  good  feelings  have 
time  to  come  into  her  heart ;  she  hoped  yet  for 
Alice. 

.  So,  speaking  kindly  to  Belle,  she  said  :  — 

"  Never  mind,  my  dear,  don't  distress  your- 
self any  more,  we  will  examine  into  this  mat- 
ter ;  your  picture  still  has  enough  left  to  show 
how  beautiful  it  must  have  been,  so  look 
cheerful  ;  Mr.  Burbank  will  be  in,  in  a  few 
moments,  to  distribute  the  prizes." 

Belle  soon  composed  herself,  and  looked  as 
bright  as  if  nothing  had  happened.     Mr.  Bur- 


102  BELLE  AND   LILLY. 

bank  entered  and  the  important  business  com- 
menced. 

"  Young  ladies,"  begun  Mr.  Burbank,  "  I 
find  by  the  reports  that  Misses  Belle  Harley  and 
Jennie  Gray  stand  highest  in  their  marks, 
for  conduct ;  but  I  also  find  that  Miss  Mor- 
daunt,  although  she  cannot  number  as  many 
as  either  of  them,  has  improved  from  last 
quarter  more  than  any  one  in  the  school,— 
in  all  respects,  her  efforts  have  been  great,  and 
her  success  marked ;  in  lessons,  conduct,  <fcc, 
she  has  conquered  more  than  either  of  the 
others  ;  to  her  then,  with  your  consent,  I  shall 
give  the  first  prize.  Speak,  Miss  Belle,  are. 
you  satisfied  ?  " 

"  0  yes,  sir,  indeed  I  am  so  very  glad !  " 
eagerly  said  Belle.  \ 

"  Jennie,  my  little  one,  what  do  you  say  ?  " 

6i  Yes  sir,  she  deserves  it,"  tremblingly  said 
and  softly  ;  "  but  0,  my  mother  will  be  so  dis- 
appointed ! "  Jennie's  mother  was  not  there  ; 
she  was  too  poor  to  leave  her  work. 

"No,  Jennie,  she  shall  not  be;  I  have  the 
same  or  similar  prizes  for  you  and  Belle  also. 
I  only  wished  to  test  your  disinterestedness." 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  103 

Jennie's  little  face  now  shone  with  de- 
light. 

"  Step  forward,  young  ladies,  and  take  these 
gifts,  and  with  them  your  teachers'  love  and 
approbation." 

Next  came  the  lesson  prize. 

"  I  find  that  Miss  Belle  Harley  takes  the 
laurels  upon  this  occasion  also  ;  I  thought  it 
would  have  been  a  drawn  game  between  her 
and  Miss  Edmonds,  and  therefore  prepared  two 
prizes.  Miss  Edmonds,  however,  has  signally 
failed  to-day.  Miss  Belle,  come  forward  and 
receive  the  second  prize." 

Belle  arose,  but  did  not  advance;  with  blush- 
ing modesty  she  said  :  — 

"  Mr.  Burbank,  the  prize  should  be  awarded 
to  Alice  ;  indeed,  she  has  kept  her  place  through 
the  whole  quarter,  and  often  recited  better 
than  myself;  she  only  failed  to  day  in  conse- 
quence of  a  severe  headache,  brought  on  too 
by  close  study.  I  cannot  feel  that  I  deserve  to 
take  the  prize  from  her,  sir.  I  should  not  be 
happy  in  doing  so."  And  she  seated  herself 
again. 

Mr.    Burbank   gave   her   a  pleased,   loving 


104  BELLE   AND   LILLY. 

glance,  then  turning  to  Alice,  said,  "  Miss 
Edmonds,  you  are  the  next  candidate ;  since 
Miss  Harley  refuses,  we  award  the  prize  to 
yourself. 

Alice  stepped  forward  to  take  the  prize,  her 
face  crimson  and  with  no  joyful  look  upon  it ; 
still  she  took  it,  curtsied,  and  went  to  her  seat, 
while  several  of  the  girls  whispered,  "  It  is  too 
bad!"  Miss  Manners  gave  her  a  look  which 
made  Alice  wince ;  but  not  yet  did  she  speak. 

The  composition  prize  was  next  awarded  to 
Miss  Talbot. 

Then  came  the  drawing  prize.  "  Young 
ladies,  Miss  Harley' s  picture,  which  would 
have  obtained  the  prize  most  likely,  is  spoiled, 
perhaps  by  her  own  carelessness  ;  therefore  the 
prize  is  Miss  Edmonds's,  who  comes  next." 

Alice  again  arose,  and  was  about  to  step 
forward,  but  a  sudden  emotion  came  over  her ; 
she  stopped,  burst  into  tears  and  said,  "  I 
don't  deserve  the  prize,  indeed  I  don't,  not 
any  prize,  for  I  did  it,  1  did  it  all,  —  for  I  am 
wicked  and  hateful.  I  never  intended  to  tell 
any  one  ;  but  Belle  is  so  good,  so  generous, 
and   I  have   been   so   unhappy ;  and  now,  if 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  105 

Belle  will  only  forgive  me  for  my  meanness  it 
is  all  I  ask."  She  seated  herself,  and  buried 
her  face  in  her  hands  Belle  was  very  much 
moved,  as  also  were  all  in  school,  and  there 
was  a  long  pause,  for  no  one  seemed  able  at 
once  to  speak ;  even  the  visitors  were  surprised 
into  some  emotion,  for  many  of  them  knew 
Alice  and  her  proud  nature,  —  knew  how 
much  it  had  cost  her  to  make  so  public  a 
confession.  Belle  rose  from  her  seat  at  length 
and  looked  towards  Miss  Manners,  who  seemed 
to  divine  her  wish,  and  nodded  in  acquiescence. 
She  went  to  Alice,  put  her  arm  around  her 
neck,  and  whispered  some  loving  words  in  her 
ear ;  then  Alice  looked  up,  and  for  the  first 
time  that  morning,  a  happy,  satisfied  look 
rested  upon  her  face.  Belle  returned  again. 
"  Alice,"  said  Miss  Manners,  gently,  "  I 
knew  all  this  before.  I  watched  you  durL.j 
intermission,  saw  you  at  Belle's  desk,  heard 
your  exclamation  of  admiration,  and  then, 
soon  after,  your  frightened  ejaculation ;  and 
as  soon  as  Belle's  defaced  picture  was  handed 
me  the  secret  was  told,  but  I  was  determined 
not  to   betray  you   unless   it   was   absolutely 


106  BELLE    AND   LTLLY. 

necessary  for  justice.  I  saw  }tou  were  un- 
happy, knew  why  you  missed  your  lesson,  and 
hoped  and  believed  that  your  better  nature 
would  finally  triumph.  How  closely  I  have 
studied  you  through  the  whole  quarter,  you 
will  never  know ;  but  when  I  tell  you  I  knew 
and  loved  your  mother,  that  in  my  early  child- 
hood's days  she  was  my  best  friend,  then  you 
will  understand  why  I  longed  so  much  to  have 
you  noble  and  true  and  good,  and  to  have  you 
and  Belle  friends.  The  union  which  will  now 
cement  you  two  is  worth  more  than  all  the  re- 
wards that  gold  or  gems  could  procure ;  this 
first  triumph  over  yourself  is  invaluable  to 
you;  now,  I  have  but  little  fear  that  you 
will  go  on  progressing. " 

Mr.  Burbank  now  came  forward.  "  Young 
ladies,  I  need  not  tell  you  how  deeply  gratified 
I  am  at  this  amicable  ending  of  our  quarter. 
I  am  sure  that  the  love  which  you  have  fought 
f  r  and  obtained,  dear  Belle,  is  worth  more  to 
y  i  than  any  prize  I  can  bestow  ;  and  I  am 
i  >  sure,  dear  Alice,  that  you  have  been  sufli- 
( .'.  .'Ay  punished  for  your  faults  towards  Belle, 
v,  -.atever  they  were.     Hereafter  may  you  ever 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  107 

be  warm  friends.  Strict  justice,  however,  will 
not  permit  me  to  award  the  prize  for  studies 
to  any  but  Belle,  as  it  was  your  own  miscon- 
duct and  not  sickness  alone  which  caused  your 
failure.  The  prize  for  drawing  will  not  be 
awarded  this  quarter." 

Miss  Manners.  "  I  have  a  token  for  Alice, 
which  is  my  own  gift,  —  a  testimony  of  her 
triumph  over  herself,  and  of  the  warm  love  of 
her  teacher."  So  saying,  she  handed  Alice 
an  elegant  copy  of  the  "  Holy  Bible." 

After  this  many  of  the  girls  were  presented 
with  medals,  one  out  of  each  class  had  some 
testimony  of  the  approbation  of  their  teachers. 

Mr.  Burbank.  "  And  now,  young  ladies, 
you  are  dismissed.  May  we  meet  again  in 
health  and  happiness,  and  may  God  bless  you 
and  be  with  you  ever." 

The  examination  was  over,  the  important 
question  of  the  prizes  settled.  There  were 
many  leave-takings  after  school ;  the  good-by 
to  Miss  Manners  was  a  most  affectionate  one. 
She  certainly  had  succeeded  in  winning  the 
love  of  all  her  scholars,  and  her  eyes  were 


108 


BELLE   AND   LILLY. 


moist  with  tears  in  parting  from  them ;  espe- 
cially to  Alice  did  she  give  a  most  warm 
embrace,  trying  to  soothe  her  emotion  and 
cheer  her  spirits  ;  poor  Alice  wept  bitterly  as 
she  clung  with  such  affection  to  her  kind 
teacher,  and  begged  her  to  love  her  in  spite 
of  her  faults. 

Lilly  and  Belle  went  home  full  of  joy  and 
gladness ;  but  Belle's  greatest  joy  was  that 
which  "her  prize  brought  her  not,  —  the  glow 
which  burned  on  her  cheek  and  sparkled  in 
her  eye,  the  sweet  smiles  which  played  around 
her  mouth,  were  caused  by  the  consciousness 
that  she  had  won  another  heart  to  love  her, 
that  she  had  been  enabled  "  to  overcome  evil 
with  good." 

The  excitement  and  the  confinement  proved 
too  much  for  the  delicate  frame  of  Alice,  and 
the  next  day  she  was  unable  to  rise  from  her 
bed. 

Belle  went  over  there  early  in  the  morning, 
with  messages  from  Mrs.  Mordaunt  and  Lilly 
to  bring  her  back  to  pass  the  day,  but,  alas  ! 
she  was  very  sick;  she  stayed  with  her  until 
night,  tenderly  watching  over  and  attending  to 


BELLE  AND  LILLY.  109 

her  slightest  wish,  and  only  left  her  when  it 
was  time  to  welcome  her  dear  father,  who 
arrived  at  six. 

How  often  did  Alice  turn  her  weary,  heavy 
eyes  upon  her  friend,  with  a  glance  so  full  of 
gratitude  and  love  that  the  tears  filled  Belle's 
at  once !  How  beautiful  it  was  to  see  the 
change  in  that  proud,  scornful  nature !  how 
beautiful  to  know  and  feel  that  love  can  con- 
quer all  things ! 

"  Dear  Belle,"  said  Alice,  softly,  "  how  can 
you  bear  to  be  near  me  ?  how  can  you  be  so 
kind,  so  loving,  to  me  ?  have  n't  I  always  tried 
to  injure  you,  been  even  cross  and  unjust, 
and  caused  you  so  much  grief  and  so  many 
tears  ? " 

"  Don't  talk  about  the  past,  Alice  dear !  you 
love  me  now,  and  I  am  more  than  satisfied; 
try  and  think  of  pleasant  things  now,  Ally,  and 
don't  get  sad,  for  it  is  bad  for  you." 

"  0  Belle,  if  I  could  only  live  with  you 
always  !  You  don't  know  how  little  there  is 
in  my  own  home  to  make  me  happy  or  good ; 
and  now,  too,  father  is  going  to  bring  home  a 
new  mother.     I  know  I  shall  hate  her,  and 


110  BELLE  AND  LILLY. 

then  what  will  Edgar  and  I  do  ?  for  even 
aunty  will  be  gone,  and  she  loves  us,  I  know, 
dearly,  although  she  don't  seem  to*  some- 
times." 

"  Ally,  dear,  you  must  not  talk  so  much, 
you  are  feverish  and  your  head  aches.  Your 
aunt  told  me  when  she  went  out  I  must  keep 
you  very  quiet;  what  will  she  say  when  she 
finds  you  are  more  excited,  worse  than  ever  ? 
so  keep  quiet.  I  will  not  say  now  what  I  want 
to  about  your  new  mamma  that  is  coming. 
When  you  get  well  we  will  talk,  and  I  will  ask 
father  to  get  your  aunt  to  let  you  go  back  with 
me  home,  and  then  perhaps  you  can  go  into 
the  country  with  us  all  the  first  of  July." 

"  0,  that  would  be  so  nice,  Belle  !  So  you 
think  we  can  be  together  all  that  time ;  it 
would  be  too  good." 

"  Yes,  I  am  most  sure  Nurse  Randall  could 
accommodate  you  and  little  Lena  too,  who  is 
going  with  us,  for  she  sleeps  with  Lilly,  and 
you  could  «leep  with  me ;  but  now,  Alice,,  do 
lie  down  (for  she  had  risen  in  her  joy,  and 
was  quite  flushed  and  excited)  and  keep  quiet. 
I  will  read  to  you  awhile,  and  may  be  you  will 
sleep." 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  Ill 

Belle  opened  Alice's  beautiful  Bible,  and 
read  a  chapter  or  two  from  her  favorite  gospel, 
John's. 

Alice  lay  very  quietly  for  a  long  time,  gazing 
at  her  sweet  face,  so  full  of  purity  and  love, 
feeling  within  herself,  "  If  I  only  had  a  spirit 
like  hers,  but  it  is  of  no  use  trying ;  her  nature 
is  different  from  mine,  she  was  born  so,  I  never 
could  be  as  good." 

Ah,  Alice !  that  is  a  salve  often  laid  upon 
the  conscience  to  keep  it  quiet  within  us,  but 
do  we  not  know  that  although  God  has  made 
us  to  differ,  yet  to  each  he  has  given  strength 
and  power  to  subdue  their  will,  to  fight  against 
temptation,  and  to  come  off  victorious ;  evil 
can  always  be  resisted,  sin  always  conquered ; 
the  greater  the  conflict,  the  more  glorious  the 
victory.  "  It  is  through  struggles  and  tempta- 
tions the  bad  become  good,  and  the  good, 
angel s." 

After  awhile  Alice  fell  asleep ;  then  with  a 
noiseless  step  Belle  left  her  and  went  home, 
first  sending  in  the  girl  to  stay  until  Miss  Ed- 
monds returned. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

THE   OLD   FARM   AND   ITS   INMATES. 

Alice  did  not  recover  fast  enough  to  go 
with  Belle  to  her  home,  but  she  went  with 
them  all  into  the  country.  What  a  merry 
party  it  was  !  —  Mrs.  Mordaunt,  Mr.  Harley, 
Lilly,  Lena,  Belle,  and  Alice,  and  little  Harry. 
How  full  their  young  hearts  were  with  joy  and 
glee,  and  how  much  pleasure  they  anticipated ! 

Maddalena's  mother  was  still  with  Miss  Man- 
ners ;  they  became  warm  friends. 

Mrs.  D'Osina  was  young  and  very  lovely, 
and,  although  headstrong  and  imprudent,  was 
full  of  generous  impulses  and  strong  feelings. 
Her  gratitude  to  Emily  Manners  knew  no 
bounds,  she  could  not  bear  to  be  away  from 
her ;  and  Miss  Manners' s  clear  judgment,  and 
firm,  steady  principle,  formed  a  good  staff  for 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  113 

Adele  to  lean  upon,  until  by  constant  effort 
and  prayer,  and  through  trial  and  failure,  she 
could  infuse  into  her  own  nature  a  portion  of 
the  strength  so  needed. 

The  little  Lena  was  constantly  at  Mrs. 
Mordaunt's.  Lilly  loved  her  dearly,  and  her 
mother  delighted  to  have  the  children  together. 
Lilly  was  three  years  older  than  Lena,  and  it 
was  quite  amusing  to  see  the  motherly,  pro- 
tecting air  she  assumed  towards  her.  She, 
Lilly,  was  excessively  pleased  when  she  ob- 
tained consent  for  Lena  to  go  with  her  to  the 
Country.  "  The  dear  child  needs  the  free,  fresh 
air  badly  enough,"  said  her  mother,  "  and  I 
am  glad  to  have  friends  so  kind  as  to  take 
her."     So  she  went  to  Nurse  Randall's. 

Nurse  Randall's  was  a  very  large  old  farm 
in  a  country  village,  about  a  day's  ride  on  the 
railroad  from  Boston.  Here  it  was  that  Mr. 
Mordaunt  first  saw  the  light,  and  Mrs.  Randall 
was  his  nurse,  for  his  mother  died  soon  after 
his  birth.  She  was  quite  old  now,  nearly  sev- 
enty, but  still  retained  her  love  for  her  foster- 
child,  and  his  children  were  as  dear  to  her, 
almost,   as   her  own.      She   had   a   daughter 

8 


114  BELLE   AND   LILLY. 

married  and  living  with  her;  this  daughter 
had  two  children,  a  boy  and  girl,  and  one 
of  her  husband's  children  by  a  previous  mar- 
riage ;  with  the  last  we  will  linger  awhile. 

Poor  little  Essie  Millar  (everybody  called 
her  so,  therefore  we  will)  !  and  no  wonder,  for 
no  one  could  look  upon  her  shrunken  and 
misshapen  figure,  with  its  long,  apish  arms, 
high  shoulders,  and  short  neck ;  no  one  could 
glance  upon  that  deformed,  sad,  sullen-look- 
ing child,  without  feeling  she  was  an  object  of 
commiseration. 

A  shudder  almost  involuntarily  crept  over 
you  when  she  came  near ;  you  felt  as  if  she 
might  be  an  evil  spirit  in  disguise. 

But  this  miserable  child  had  deep,  intense 
passions,  the  strongest  yearnings  for  love,  and 
a  most  susceptible  and  sensitive  spirit. 

Until  she  was  five  years  old  (now  she  was 
twelve)  she  had  a  mother,  an  own  mother,  who 
loved  her  all  the  more  deeply  and  tenderly  for 
her  terrible  misfortunes. 

Around  that  mother  the  poor  child  had 
clung  until  her  frame  was  interwoven  with 
hers.     She  loved  her  as  children  of  five  years 


BELLE   AND   LILLY  115 

old  could  never  love,  unless  they  like  her  had 
but  the  one  being  on  earth  to  care  for ;  unless 
they,  like  her,  had  been  rendered  precocious 
by  suffering  and  deformity. 

This  mother  was  very  frail  and  sickly,  and 
Essie  would  watch  over  her  as  tenderly  as  the 
most  experienced  nurse ;  the  little  creature 
would  give  her  medicine,  would  smooth  her 
pillow  and  brush  her  hair,  would  listen  to  her 
faintest  request,  and  never  leave  her  bedside 
to  play,  and  hardly  to  eat. 

How  often  did  that  mother  send  up  fervent 
prayers  to  the  throne  of  grace  for  her  poor, 
stricken  child  ! 

"  Who,  0  who  will  care  for  the  unfortunate 
one  when  I  am  gone  ?  would  that  it  might  be 
His  will  to  take  us  both  together  !  " 

When  her  mother  was  well,  though,  they 
had  many  bright  days  together ;  and  every 
sorrow  that  her  love  could  ward  off  was  care- 
fully kept  from  the  little  Essie. 

She  was  taught  to  sew,  and  as  young  as  she 
was  she  could  read  beautifully ;  then,  too,  she 
could  sing,  her  voice  was  sweet  beyond  expres- 
sion ;  even  in  speaking  it  involuntarily  attracted 


JL16  BELLE  AND   LILLY. 

your  attention,  so  sad  in  its  tone,  and  yet  so 
rich  in  its  liquid  sweetness. 

Sometimes  when  they  were  seated  side  by 
side,  (for  Mrs.  Millar  was  seldom  strong  enough 
to  hold  her,)  Essie's  tiny  hand  clasped  in  her 
mother's,  and  her  large,  sorrowful  eyes  fixed 
upon  her,  their  sweet  voices  would  mingle  to- 
gether until  one  who  listened,  unseen,  might 
imagine  angels  were  chanting  some  low,  sweet 
hymn.  Ah  !  those  were  halcyon  days  for  poor 
Essie,  and  never  did  the  child  forget ;  their 
memory  ever  kept  a  pure  place  in  her  heart. 

Their  house  was  two  miles  distant  from  the 
nearest  neighbors,  so  she  had  only  her  darling 
mother  and  good  old  Jemmy  near  her. 

Mr.  Millar  was  out  at  work  all  day,  only 
coming  in  at  his  meals ;  and  he  seldom  noticed 
the  poor,  deformed  child,  although  she  eagerly 
ran  to  attend  his  slightest  want  or  call ;  he 
never  gave  her  a  glance  of  affection  or  a  lov- 
ing word.  If  he  chanced  to  look  at  her  at  all, 
he  would  turn  away  his  eyes  again  quickly,  as 
if  the  sight  pained  him.  Essie,  however,  would 
have  her  mother's  smile  of  approval  whenever 
she  did  anything  for  him,  and  that  was  reward 
enough. 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  117 

The  tears  would  spring  to  her  eyes  some- 
times if  her  father  spoke  harshly  to  her 
mother,  or  "wondered"  why  she  made  such 
a  fuss  over  that  child. 

"  Why  is  it,"  she  said  one  day,  "  why  is  it 
father  hates  me  so,  mother  ?  is  it  because  I 
am  so  ugly,  so  different  from  the  little  cousins 
he  brought  here  one  day  to  play  with  me  ? 
How  he  petted  Nellie  and  kissed  Bessie,  and 
never  a  word  or  look  for  poor  little  me  !  I  felt 
then  as  if  I  almost  hated  them,  but  that  went 
away ;  but,  0  mother,  if  I  were  only  beautiful 
like  you !" 

"  Hush,  hush,  my  child  !  you  must  not  mur- 
mur at  the  burden  God  has  given  you  to  bear. 
If  you  are  not  beautiful,  my  daughter,  you 
have  a  kind  heart  and  a  loving  spirit,  a  mind 
quick  to  learn  anything  you  wish,  and  a  sweet 
voice  to  sing  God's  praise.  Surely,  if  your 
form  is  crooked  you  have  no  right  to  com' 
plain,  my  love  !  " 

"  But,  mother,  father  never  asks  to  hear  me 
sing,  —  never  wants  to  see  me." 

"  Your  father  does  not  know  his  child  yet, 
my  little  Essie ;  perhaps  one  of  these  days  you 


118  BELLE  AND  LILLY. 

may  be  his  greatest  comfort."  (Essie's  eyes 
sparkled  at  this.)  "  He  is  absorbed  in  getting 
rich  now,  and  he  is  disappointed,  too,  that  his 
only  child  should  be  sickly  and  —  " 

"  Deformed !  yes,  say  it,  mother ;  you  need 
not  be  afraid  to  tell  me  so  now,  Nellie  and 
Bessie  said  I  was  hideous,  and  had  a  hump  and 
a  dwarf's  face."  And  she  broke  into  a  wild 
burst  of  tears.  Her  mother  soothed  her  gently 
with  words  of  love,  and  smoothing  back  her 
beautiful  brown  curls  that  fell  around  her  in 
showers,  said  softly, — 

"  My  Essie,  do  you  wish  to  make  your 
mother  unhappy  and  sad  ?  do  you  wish  to 
grieve  her  so  much,  that  she  cannot  sleep 
peacefully  and  quietly  ?  " 

0,  how  quickly  were  those  arms,  which 
the  girls  had  jeered  at,  but  one  being  loved, 
thrown  around  that  mother's  neck,  and  the 
broken  words  came  forth,  — 

"  Forgive  me,  mother,  dear,  darling  mother! 
I  will  never  complain  again,  —  never,  while  I 
have  you  to  love  me." 

Poor  child,  not  six  weeks  after  this  that 
gentle   mother  lay  cold  in  death,  and  Essie 


B2LLE   AND  LILLY.  119 

almost  as  cold  and  quite  as  inanimate  beside 
her.  No  motion,  no  sign,  seemed  to  show  life, 
unless  some  one  tried  to  take  her  from  the 
body  ;  then  she  would  struggle  and  scream 
like  a  maniac,  and  it  was  dangerous  to  her  to 
attempt  it. 

At  last,  she  was  worn  out,  and  fell  back  en- 
tirely senseless  ;  then  she  was  removed.  When 
her  senses  returned,  she  saw  a  strange  face 
bending  over  her,  a  strange,  hard  face ;  this 
was  her  aunt,  her  father's  sister,  a  maiden- 
lady,  and  quite  rich ;  here  she  lived,  until 
about  a  year  before  she  was  introduced  to  you 
at  Nurse  Randall's.  Every  year  found  her 
more  and  more  sullen  and  morose,  more 
wrapped  up  in  an  impenetrable  sort  of  gloom 
and  reserve. 

Miss  Millar  did  not  mean  to  be  unkind  to 
the  "poor,  deformed  thing"  as  she  always 
called  her,  and  yet  she  had  no  tenderness  in 
her  heart,  and  knew  not  how  to  call  forth  the 
good  and  sweet  there  was  in  the  sad  child ; 
she  never  had  the  least  powers  of  judging 
character  ;  to  her,  Essie  appeared  not  only 
ugly-looking  but  cold,  ungrateful,  and  sullen. 


120  BELLE  AND  LILLY. 

She  could  not  understand  the  workings  of  that 
poor  suffering  heart ;  she  did  not  know  that 
the  silence  which  glued  her  tongue,  when- 
ever her  aunt  would  speak  of  her  departed 
mother,  was  a  silence  which  was  almost  break- 
ing her  heart ;  and  yet  to  her,  to  that  cold 
woman,  Essie  could  not  talk  of  her  who  was 
enshrined  in  the  innermost  recesses  of  her  soul ; 
her  grief,  too,  was  grief  which  could  not  be 
spoken,  —  so  Miss  Millar  thought  she  had  soon 
forgotten  her  mother,  "  never  spoke  of  her, 
and  never  shed  a  tear,"  and  although  every 
day  her  cheek  grew  paler  and  her  shrunken 
form  still  more  emaciated,  yet  it  was  all  un- 
noticed, by  one  not  accustomed  to  watch  her. 
Before  a  month  passed  away,  however,  she  was 
raving  in  the  delirium  of  a  brain  fever.  0,  in 
her  conscious  intervals,  how  fervently  did  she 
pray  for  her  death,  how  piteously  in  her  rav- 
ings did  she  call  upon  her  dead  mother  to 
come  and  take  her  poor,  forlorn,  desolate  Essie 
to  live  with  her  ! 

Then,  her  obtuse  aunt  found  out  something 
of  the  depth  of  affection  and  the  intensity  of 
sorrow  there  was  in  that  poor  little  heart. 


BELLE  AND   LILLY.  121 

She  determined  to  be  more  kind  to  her,  and 
she  really  nursed  her  with  great  devotion ;  she 
recovered,  and  was  as  well  again  as  usual,  but 
her  frame  was  very  delicate,  always  liable  to 
severe  sickness.  Essie  was  not  grateful  for 
her  recovery,  on  the  contrary  she  wished  her 
aunt  had  let  her  alone,  so  that  she  might  have 
died  and  gone  to  her  mother.  This  Miss  Millar 
thought  very  ungrateful  after  all  her  nursing, 
but  she  did  not  say  so,  for  really  pity  for  the 
child  had  made  her  quite  careful  of  her  feel- 
ings. But  alas,  for  Essie !  she  arose  from  her 
sickness  more  shut  up  within  herself  than 
ever ;  she  would  go  whole  days  without  speak- 
ing one  word,  and  after  a  good  many  inef- 
fectual attempts  to  win  her  confidence,  Miss 
Millar  let  her  alone,  thinking  the  fever  had 
deranged  her  mind,  and  that  she  was  half 
idiot.  All  she  needed  bodily  she  had,  but, 
alas !  there  was  no  love  wherewith  to  feed  her 
desolate  heart ;  Miss  Millar's  cold  duty  was 
not  the  key  that  could  unlock  those  sealed 
fountains. 

Never,  during  the  whole  six  years  she  was 
with  her  aunt,  was  her  voice  heard  in  song, 


122  BELLE   AND   LILLY. 

and  yet,  as  she  afterwards  told  Belle,  she 
would  go  away  off  into  the  woods  and  sing 
and  talk  too,  imagining  her  mother's  spirit 
could  hear  her. 

We  have  dwelt  thus  long  upon  our  poor 
Essie,  because  we  wished  our  readers  to  un- 
derstand exactly  what  kind  of  a  being  she  was 
when  our  young  friends  first  met  her. 

Of  the  other  two  children,  little  need  be 
said;  they  were  round,  fat,  and  rosy,  and  a 
good  deal  indulged ;  their  mother  was  very 
fond  and  very  proud  of  them. 

She  tried  to  be  good  to  Essie,  but  it  was 
very  difficult  for  her  to  conceal  her  aver- 
sion to  her.  Mr.  Millar  took  to  himself  this 
wife,  after  his  first  had  been  dead  one  year. 
Her  children  were  now  five  and  four  years 
old.  The  death  of  the  maiden  aunt,  of  whom 
we  have  spoken,  obliged  Mr.  Millar  to  take 
to  his  own  home  his  unloved,  miserable  child. 

And  now,  as  our  merry  party  have  arrived, 
we  will  let  all  act  and  speak  for  themselves. 


CHAPTER   VII. 


COUNTRY    LIFE. 


"  Here  they  are  !  here  they  are  I  just  driv- 
ing through  the  big  gate ;  run,  Abby,  run  and 
welcome  them ! "  said  good  old  Nursey  to  her 
daughter. 

"  I  wonder  where  Jemmy  and  Tommy  are  ? 
do,  ma,  see  if  they  look  decent,  while  I  run 
out  to  meet  them." 

"  And  Essie,  Abby,  where  is  she  ?  Poor 
child,  may  be  she  '11  find  somebody  she  can 
fancy  among  the  pretty  little  gals.  Where  is 
she,  Abby  ? " 

"  0,  I  don't  know  !  I  guess  she  is  up  stairs 
poring  over  some  book  or  other;  never  mind 
her,  find  the  chicks  and  I'll  be  off."  And 
away  she  ran  to  open  the  little  gate  and  wel- 
come the  party. 


124  BELLE   AND   LILLY. 

Soon  they  were  all  safely  ensconced  in  that 
large,  old-fashioned  dining-room ;  and  Polly, 
the  black  girl,  was  making  preparations  in  the 
kitchen  for  a  most  substantial  meal.  The  little 
girls  were  ravenously  hungry  after  their  day's 
ride ;  and  the  piles  of  smoking  brown  bread, 
and  the  savory  smell  of  doughnuts  and  Indian 
pudding,  which  were  going  upon  the  table, 
quite  made  their  mouths  water ! 

"  Wall,  wall,  Lilly  dear !  now  how  you  do 
grow,  for  sartain,  —  why,  let  me  see,  you  are 
only  seven,  are  ye  ?  " 

uYes,  Nursey,  seven  and  a  half,  that  is 
quite  old,  I  think,"  said  Lilly,  straightening 
herself  up  and  looking  at  Lena,  who  was  about 
three  years  younger. 

"  Well,  you  are  grown  surprising  but  you 
a'  n't  quite  a  woman  yet,  my  little  darling ! 
But  who  is  this  little  one,  with  her  great  black 
eyes ;  come  here  and  give  me  a  kiss,  won't 
ye,  pretty  one  ?  " 

Lena  hung  her  head  and  clung  to  Lilly,  for 
she  was  very  timid ;  and  the  idea  of  kissing 
this  old,  loud-talking  woman,  with  hardly  any 
teeth  and  such  a  brown  skin,  frightened  her. 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  125 

"  Go,  Lena,  go !  "  said  Lilly.  "  Nursey  is  real 
good  ;  you  need  n't  be  afraid  of  her  if  she  does 
look  queer  and  talk  loud,  she  won't  hurt  you." 

But  Lena  still  drew  back. 

"  Well,  never  mind,  don't  make  her ;  you 
come,  Lilly,  and  Belle,  too,  and  kiss  your  old 
nurse  and  tell  her  you  are  glad  to  see  her  as 
she  is  to  see  you,  you  blessed  darlings. " 

They  did  so,  and  Alice  was  then  introduced, 
and  Nurse  bade  her  welcome. 

Mr.  Mordaunt  and  Mr.  Harley  now  came 
in,  and  old  Nurse  was  more  than  joyful  at 
the  sight  again  of  her  own  child,  as  she  called 
Mr.  Mordaunt.  Mr.  Harley,  too,  was  a  great 
favorite  of  hers,  although  she  had  not  seen 
him  very  often. 

After  a  few  moments,  Mrs.  Millar  entered 
with  a  child  holding  each  hand ;  they  drew 
back  rather  bashfully  at  first,  but  Lilly  and 
Belle  ran  to  them  and  each  took  one. 

Little  Jennie  was  a  fat,  round,  red  and  white 
little  girl,  with  large  blue  eyes  and  wavy  yel- 
low hair ;  Tommy  was  after  the  same  pattern, 
only  larger,  and  hair  darker.  They  were  soon 
very  much  at  home  with  the  girls,  and  admir- 


126  BELLE  AND   LILLY. 

ing  eagerly  the  pretty  things  adorning  their 
neck  and  arms. 

How  happy  and  bright  they  all  looked !  how 
full  of  anticipations  of  pleasure  was  each  little 
heart !  Even  Alice  Edmonds's  eye  sparkled, 
and  a  faint  glow  suffused  her  cheek  as  she 
surveyed  the  group,  and  then  looked  around 
her  at  the  quaint  old  room  and  out  of  the 
window,  where  she  could  see  a  beautiful  grove 
in  the  distance,  and  a  fine  lawn  dotted  with 
trees  in  front  of  the  house. 

"  Supper  is  ready  !  "  screamed  Polly,  very 
loud,  for  she  could  hardly  make  herself  heard, 
there  was  so  much  talking  and  noise. 

"  0,  I  am  so  glad,"  said  Lilly,  "  for  I  am 
most  starved  !  "  And  I,  and  I,  chimed  in  most 
of  the  others. 

"  Well,  come  along,  chicks,  and  eat  your 
fill,  and  I  hope  you  will  like  it.  My  boy,"  she 
said,  addressing  Mr.  Mordaunt,  "  won't  you  sit 
next  to  me  ?  it  is  so  long  since  I  have  seen  you 
it  does  my  old  eyes  good." 

Her  daughter  did  the  honors,  as  Nurse  con- 
sidered herself  too  old  to  pour  out  tea  any 
longer.     At  length  all  were  seated. 


BELLE  AND   LILLY.  127 

"  Why,  here  is  a  vacant  chair  by  me  !  "  said 
Belle  ;  "  who  is  to  come  here  ?  " 

"  0,  that  is  Essie's  place,"  answered  Nurse. 
"  Abby,  where  is  that  child  ?  " 

"  I  could  not  prevail  upon  her  to  come  down, 
mother !  she  said  she  did  n't  want  to  see  any- 
body, that  she  hated  girls  and  boys,  too,  and 
wished  to  be  let  alone  and  read  her  book." 

"  0,  dear  me,  what  a  strange  critter  she  is ! 
did  n't  she  want  her  tea?  for  I  would  not  send 
it  up  to  her  and  so  encourage  her  to  act  so." 

"  No !  she  said  she  did  n't,  for  I  told  her 
unless  she  would  come  for  it  she  might  go 
without." 

Belle  listened  with  much  interest  to  this  low 
conversation,  while  most  of  the  others  were 
busy  eating  and  talking. 

"  Who  is  it,  Nursey  ?  "  at  last  she  said,  "  what 
little  girl  is  so  unsocial,  or  bashful  ?  " 

"  No  one  you  will  care  for,  Miss  Belle,"  said 
Mrs.  Millar ;  "  it  is  my  husband's  oldest  child, 
poor  Essie." 

"  Why  is  she  l  poor  Essie  ?  '  "  still  persisted 
Belle. 

"  Everybody  calls  her  poor  little  Essie,"  said 


128  BELLE   AND   LILLY. 

Nurse,  "because  she  is  so  crooked  and  small 
and  poor,  she  is, — and  to  be  pitied,  I  am  sure, 
—  so  ugly  and  so  strange  !  " 

"  Poor,  poor  little  thing,"  said  Belle,  sadly ; 
"  how  I  wish  I  could  see  her  and  try  to  make 
her  love  me  !  " 

"  0,  as  to  that,"  said  Mrs.  Millar,  "  you  will 
see  her  soon  enough,  but  you  will  never  make 
her  love  you ;  for  she  has  been  with  us  a  year 
now,  and  I  am  sure  we  have  done  all  we  could 
for  her,  and  she  does  not  love  one  in  the  house, 
and  I  sometimes  feel  as  if  she  hated  me." 

"  What  is  all  this  ?  "  cried  Mr.  Mordaunt,  who 
had  just  caught  the  last  expression  ;  "  who  are 
you  talking  about,  hating-  you  ?  Whoever  it 
is  must  have  very  bad  taste,  in  my  opinion." 
And  he  bowed  politely  to  Mrs.  Millar. 

"  0,  it  is  only  poor  Essie  we  were  speaking 
of!" 

"  The  little  deformed  girl  of  your  hus- 
band ? " 

"  Yes  !  have  you  seen  her  ?  " 

"  Once,"  said  Mr.  Mordaunt ;  "  I  knew  her 
own  mother,  and  spent  a  day  there  when  she 
was  living.     I  never  saw  such  devotion  in  my 


BELLE   AND  LILLY.  129 

life  as  existed  between  the  pair  during  the 
whole  day ;  that  child  never  left  her  mother's 
side,  —  she  anticipated  her  wishes,  understood 
every  look  as  well  as  if  she  were  fifteen  instead 
of  five,  and  then,  such  a  voice !  I  never  heard 
the  like  in  a  child  of  her  age.  Even  to  hear 
her  speak  was  a  pleasure,  but  to  hear  her  sing 
was  a  real  delight !  " 

"  Sing,  sing!  "  said  Mrs.  Millar,  "  you  must 
be  mistaken.  I  never  heard  a  note  from  her 
in  my  life,  and  her  father  never  spoke  of  her 
singing ;  but  her  voice,  for  speaking,  is  rather 
soft  and  sweet.' ' 

Belle  had  by  this  time  finished  her  supper, 
and  while  they  were  all  busy  talking  she  quiet- 
ly slipped  away,  determined  to  seek  the  object 
of  discussion ;  and  finding  the  way  up  stairs 
ran  into  every  room  to  hunt  for  her. 

At  last,  away  up  in  the  attic,  all  crouched 
up  in  a  heap  on  the  floor  near  a  window,  Belle 
spied  out  the  little  desolate  creature,  who  was 
very  busy  over  a  book,  and  did  not  hear  Belle's 
footsteps,  so  that  the  large  tears  which  fell  so 
plentifully  down  her  face  upon  the  page  were 
not  restrained ;  that  face  was  bent  over,  and 

9 


130  BELLE  AND  LILLY. 

her  beautiful  hair  almost  hid  it.  Belle  stood 
still  a  moment,  fearing  to  approach.  While 
she  hesitated,  a  low,  sweet  voice  broke  the 
stillness,  "  0,  my  mother !  my  own,  own  mo- 
ther !  why  did  you  go  and  leave  your  child  ? 
why  did  you  not  pray  to  that  God,  who  took 
you,  to  take  me  also  ?  what  good  can  I  do 
here  ?  everybody  shuns  me  and  I  hate  every- 
body. 0  mother,  mother !  take  me  to  your- 
self." Then  she  hid  her  face  upon  her  book 
and  lap,  and  sobbed  convulsively. 

All  at  once  she  felt  a  soft  arm  around  her 
neck,  a  warm  tear  drop  upon  her  hand,  and 
the  words,  "  Essie,  dear  Essie,  I  love  you ! 
won't  you  love  me  a  little  ?  "  uttered  in  such 
sweet,  gentle  tones,  that  Essie  felt  for  a  mo- 
ment as  if  her  prayer  was  answered,  as  if, 
indeed,  her  own  mother  had  come  to  her  once 
more,  for  she  did  not  know  any  one  else  to 
love  her.  She  started  up  and  saw  in  the  now 
dim  light  a  pure,  spiritual-looking  creature  all 
in  white,  so  etherial,  as  it  seemed  to  her  fancy, 
that  another  idea  flashed  across  her  mind  and 
she  stood  looking  wildly  at  her ;  her  large  eyes 
dilated  to  their  full  extent,  hardly  daring  to 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  131' 

stir  lest  the  vision  should  fade  away,  even  as 
she  gazed. 

"  Are  you  an  angel,  beautiful  one,"  she  said, 
softly,  "  come  to  take  me  to  my  mother  ?  0, 
say  yes,  and  take  me  !  take  me  right  away  !  " 
And  she  fell,  trembling  with  excitement,  at 
her  feet. 

Belle  got  down  beside  her,  soothed  her  and 
caressed  her,  saying,  "  I  am  no  angel,  Essie 
dear,  but  Belle  Harley,  a  little  girl  like  your- 
self ;  and  I  have  come  to  love  you  and  to  try 
to  make  you  love  me  and  not  hate  me  any 
more,  as  you  say  you  do." 

"  i"  said  I  hated  you  !  how  could  I  hate  you  ? 
I  only  hate  little  girls  and  children.  You  are 
not  like  them,  any  that  I  have  seen ;  you  are 
like  those  pictures  that  mother  used  to  show 
me  of  angels  and  cherubs.  Your  eyes  are  full 
of  love,  just  as  mother's  used  to  be  whenever 
she  looked  at  me.  The  little  girls  that  I  have 
seen  run  away  from  me  and  call  me  names, 
and  even  the  grown  folks  don't  like  to  have 
me  come  too  near.  Why  do  you  love  me? 
say,  where  did  you  come  from  ?  " 

"  1  came  from  Boston  with  Lilly  and  Alice 


132  BELLE   AND   LILLY. 

and  Lena,  and  they  are  all  down  stairs  eating 
supper,  and  I  came  for  you,  dear  Essie,  to  go 
down  with  me  and  eat  some  of  the  nice  things. 
So  don't  sit  here  any  longer  in  the  dark,  but 


"  No,  no  !  "  said  Essie,  sharply,  "  no  !  I 
don't  want  to  go  among  all  those  girls.  Lilly 
is  beautiful,  Mrs.  Millar  said  so  this  morning, 
and  likes  to  dress  fine.  She,  I  am  sure,  will 
not  want  the  ugly  little  dwarf  near  her,  and 
she  will  not  like  me  ;  no  one  does  now."  And 
she  sighed  deeply  as  she  pressed  her  book  to 
her  heart. 

"  0,  but  they  will  love  you,  and  they  are 
not  bad  girls  !  do  come,  Essie,  and  see  if  they 
won't,  —  at  any  rate,  they  won't  do  you  any 
harm,  and  I  want  you  to  have  some  supper." 

"  I  don't  want  any  supper.  I  had  rather 
read  my  hymn-book  that  mother  and  I  used  to 
read  together." 

"  And  didn't  you  sing,  too  ?  "  eagerly  asked 
Belle. 

"  What  makes  you  ask  me  ?     I  don't  sing ! " 

"  But  you  used  to  sing  with  your  dear  mo- 
ther, didn't  you  ?     My  uncle  heard  you  once  ; 


BELLE    AND    LILLY.  133 

he  used  to  know  and  love  your  mother,  and  he 
spent  the  day  with  her  a  short  time  before 
she  died." 

"  Was  that  gentleman  your  uncle  ?  I  remem- 
ber him;  he  was  very  good  to  me  and  took 
me  on  his  knee,  and  did  not  seem  to  dislike 
me,  as  almost  all  strangers  did ;  and  he  was 
very  gentle  to  mother ;  I  love  him,  and  if  he  is 
there  I  will  go  down." 

So  they  went  down  together,  and  hand  in. 
hand  went  into  the  room. 

They  had  left  the  table  and  it  was  partly 
cleared,  but  Essie  cared  not  for  that,  she  did 
not  wish  any  supper  ;  but  Mrs.  Millar  sup- 
posed she  had  come  in  now  to  get  that,  so  she 
spoke  quite  loudly  and  harshly,  — 

"  So  you  got  Essie  to  come  at  last,  did  you, 
Miss  Belle  ?  She  ought  to  be  ashamed  of  her- 
self to  need  so  much  running  after ;  sit  down 
now,  child,  and  make  haste." 

"  I  don't  want  any  supper,  ma'am." 
"  0,  very  well,  I  '11  clear  away,  then !  " 
Every  body  looked  up  and  stared  at  Essie, 
and  an  expression  like  a  shudder  passed  over 
the   faces   of  Lilly   and  Alice,  as  they  gazed 


134  BELLE   AND    LILLY. 

at  the  shrunken  and  pallid  face,  crooked 
figure,  and  ape-like  arms,  of  the  little  crea- 
ture. Lilly  whispered,  and  poor  Essie  heard 
it,  for  her  ears  were  keenly  sensitive,  — 

"Did  you  ever  see  such  an  ugly  object  ?  0, 
Alice,  I  wonder  if  we  have  got  to  play  with 
her!" 

"  Hush,  hush,  Lilly,  she  hears  you !  see  how 
cross  she  is  looking  at  us." 

Lilly  was  sorry  as  soon  as  she  had  uttered 
the  words,  but  children  are  often  just  so 
thoughtless  without  meaning  to  be  unkind. 

A  fierce  look  shot  athwart  the  features  of 
Essie,  but  only  for  a  second ;  then  the  same 
sullen,  reserved  gloom  came  back  again. 

Mr.  Mordaunt  called  her  to  him,  and  kindly 
drew  her  up  to  his  side,  and  said,  — 

"  Why,  my  little  Essie,  you  have  changed 
greatly  since  I  saw  you  last,  seven  years  ago ; 
then  your  face  was  quite  rosy  and  round,  and 
you  looked  happy  ;  .poor,  poor,  child,  you  have 
missed  your  mother." 

Essie  could  speak  no  word,  it  was  only  by  a 
tremendous  effort  she  kept  from  sobbing  aloud ; 
she  kept  clasped  tightly  the  hand  that  held 


BELLE    AND    LILLY.  135 

hers,  and  after  a  moment  raised  it  to  her  lips ; 
then  she  turned  away  with  her  usual  look 
upon  her  face. 

Mr.  Harley  had  watched,  silently,  all  Belle's 
actions,  had  seen  her  leave  the  table,  and  af- 
terwards return  with  the  "  poor  little  Essie." 
How  his  heart  rejoiced  to  see  how  much  love 
and  goodness  there  was  in  his  sweet  daugh- 
ter !  when  his  eye  caught  hers  he  gave  a  glance 
of  approval,  a  smile  of  affection,  and  soon  he 
motioned  the  pair  to  come  to  him. 

Essie  was  about  quitting  the  room,  for  she 
longed  to  be  alone  again,  but  Belle  seized  her 
hand,  and  dragged  rather  than  led  her  un- 
willing captive.  "  I  know  you  will  love  my 
father,  Essie ;  so  do  come,  he  wants  to  see 
you." 

Mr.  Harley  took  one  on  each  side  of  him, 
and  put  an  arm  around  each  and  talked 
quietly  and  pleasantly,  interesting  Essie  so 
much,  that  she  quite  forgot  to  think  of  her- 
self, and  answered  and  asked  questions  with 
a  good  deal  of  animation  ;  the  usual  sullen  look 
gave  place  to  one  of  eager  intelligence,  and 
it  was  astonishing  to  note  what  a  change  it 
made  in  her. 


136  BELLE    AND    LILLY. 

Mr.  Mordaunt  now  came  up  and  joined 
the  group,  and  seating  himself  by  the  side  of 
Essie  said,  "  And  now,  Essie,  wont  you  sing 
for  us  ?  I  have  been  telling  them  all  how 
beautifully  you  used  to  sing ;  I  hope  you  have 
not  lost  your  voice  !  " 

"  I  never  sing  now,  except  in  the  woods,  far 
away  from  every  one  but  mother ;  I  don't  like 
to  sing  to  others,  and  I  can't." 

"  0,  Essie,  dear,  won't  you  sing  one  song  to 
me  ?  I  should  so  love  to  hear  you." 

"  And  I,  and  I,"  shouted  a  number  of  voices, 
for  they  had  already  gotten  over  their  dread  of 
her  first  appearance,  and,  child-like,  were  eager 
to  hear  something  new. 

"  Not  now,  indeed  I  can't  now,  but  some 
other  time  I  will  sing  for  you,  Mr.  Mordaunt, 
for  (she  added  in  a  whisper)  you  loved  my 
dear  mother." 

"  Yes,  indeed,  I  did,  little  Essie,  we  grew  up 
together  here  in  this  village,  and  Hester  Gray 
was  the  village  beauty  ;  we  played  together  and 
went  to  school  together,  and  I  loved  her  as  if 
she  were  my  own  sister." 

Essie  drew  closer  to  him,  and  pressed  an- 
other kiss  upon  his  hand. 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  137 

"  Poor  child,  poor  child  !  "  said  he,  "  to  lose 
such  a  mother  was  hard  for  thee.  Essie,"  he 
added,  after  a  pause,  "  I  leave  early  to-morrow 
morning,  and  this  is  the  only  chance  I  shall 
have  to  hear  you  sing." 

"  Do  you  really  want  to  hear  me  so 
much  ? " 

"  Why,  yes,  child  !  of  course  I  do." 

"  Well,  I  must  then,  if  I  can." 

So  taking  a  low  seat  in  front  of  him,  with 
her  back  to  all  the  rest,  she  began  that  beauti- 
ful song,  "  My  Mother  Dear!  " 

At  first  the  tones  were  tremulous  and  low, 
but  soon  she  forgot  all  but  her  song,  and  her 
yoice  poured  out  so  rich,  so  clear,  and  musical, 
that  all  stared,  mute  with  admiration  and  sur- 
prise. Even  Mrs.  Millar  stood  stock-still  in 
the  midst  of  her  dish-washing,  with  a  cup 
between  her  fingers,  and  her  eyes  very  wide 
open  gazing  in  wonder  towards  the  form  from 
whence  those  heavenly  words  proceeded ;  and 
old  Nurse  forgot  to  knit,  and  sat  looking  up 
with  the  stocking  resting  m  her  lap. 

When  the  last  faint  tones  — "  My  mother 
dear  !  "  —  died  upon  the  ear,  almost  every  eye 


138  BELLE   AND   LILLY. 

in  the  room  was  moistened ;  every  heart  beat 
faster,  throbbing  with  emotion. 

There  were  no  cruel,  unkind  ones  there; 
only  an  insensibility,  a  bluntness  of  nature, 
which  prevented  their  understanding  or  ap- 
preciating such  a  character  as  Essie's.  This 
caused  their  apparent  unfeelingness,  and  Es- 
sie's dislike. 

This  song  seemed  to  unlock  all  hearts,  and 
good-natured  Abby  Millar  thought,  "  Well, 
there  may  be  something  in  the  strange  child, 
after  all !  " 

Before  any  one  could  collect  themselves  to 
speak,  Essie  had  slipped  away. 

"  By  Jove ! "  said  Mr.  Mordaunt,  who  was  the 
first  to  break  the  pause  (and  who,  although 
a  very  kind-hearted  man,  was  often  inelegant 
in  his  expressions)  ;  "  by  Jove,  what  a  voice  ! 
did  you  ever  hear  as  much  soul  put  into  a 
song  before  ?  why,  if  that  girl  had  a  person  to 
match  her  voice  she  might  make  her  fortune 
in  a  few  years.  Mrs.  Millar,"  he  added,  turn- 
ing to  her,  "  that  is  no  common  girl ;  be  care- 
ful of  her,  —  she  feels  every  word,  every 
look." 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  139 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  Harley,  gently,  "  hers  is  a 
spirit  that  must  be  very  tenderly  dealt  with ; 
nothing  but  love  and  kindness  should  ever 
meet  her  ear." 

"  I  guess  she  can't  complain  of  her  treat- 
ment  here,"  said  Mrs.  Millar,  bridling  up ; 
"  she  has  always  had  everything  she  wanted, 
and,  if  I  knew  how,  I  would  have  made  her 
happy ;  but  she  hates  me,  I  think,  and  I 
always  fancied  it  was  because  I  took  her 
mother's  place ;  but  then,  she  don't  seem  to 
love  her  father  much,  either." 

The  gentlemen  were  silent.  They  saw  there 
was  no  use  talking  to  Mrs.  Millar ;  she  was  too 
well  satisfied  with  herself,  and  had  too  little 
penetration  to  read  such  a  character  as  Essie's. 
So,  to  change  the  subject,  Mr.  Harley  inquired 
after  Mr.  Millar. 

"  0,  he  has  gone  away  for  a  month  or  so  to 
look  after  some  land  of  his  out  West !  Perhaps 
we  shall  all  go  and  live  there  when  he  comes 
back." 

The  children,  Lilly  and  Lena,  came  up  and 
told  their  father  they  were  going  to  play  blind- 
man's  buff.     Several  of  the  neighbors'  children 


140  BELLE   AND   LILLY. 

had  come  in,  and  there  was  to  be  a  fine 
game. 

Mr.  Harley  and  Mr.  Mordaunt  betook  them- 
selves to  another  room,  and  read  the  papers 
and  talked.  After  awhile,  however,  the  merry 
sounds  in  the  adjoining  apartment  tempted 
them  and  they  went  back  too  look  on,  and 
even  join  in  the  game.  Mrs.  Millar,  and  old 
Nurse,  too,  helped  on  the  fun,  and  a  right 
pleasant  evening  they  had. 

Belle  made  her  escape  in  the  midst  of  the 
jollity  and  ran  off  again  to  hunt  up  her  new 
little  friend,  in  whom  she  felt  so  interested 
that  she  could  not  bear  to  leave  her  alone. 
Her  own  heart  sympathised  so  keenly  with  the 
afflicted  child's  sufferings,  that  she  longed  to 
make  her  happy,  to  be  her  comforter.  The 
sorrowful  tones  she  first  heard  from  her 
sounded  in  her  ears  in  the  midst  of  all  the 
fun ;  and  her  desolate,  despairing  attitude  was 
continually  before  her  eyes,  even  when  she  had 
the  blinder  on  and  was  apparently  very  gay. 

She  found  her  in  her  own  little  room,  and, 
as  usual,  she  was  weeping  over  her  mother's 
hymn-book. 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  141 

Belle  stole  gently  up  behind  her  and  put  her 
arms  around  her  neck,  and  said,  "  I  have  left 
the  play,  dear  Essie,  for  I  longed  to  be  with 
you,  and  I  knew  I  should  not  be  missed,  there 
are  so  many  there." 

Essie  looked  up,  and  something  of  a  loving 
expression  came  into  her  face,  as  she  met  those 
soft,  sweet  eyes  bent  upon  her  so  affection- 
ately. 

"  Why  do  you  come  after  me?"  she  said ; 
"  leave  me  to  my  loneliness,  no  one  can  care 
for  such  as  I  am  but  one,  and  she  is  in 
heaven." 

"  Essie,  do  you  refuse  to  let  me  love  you  ? 
do  you  want  me  to  go  away  ?  does  it  make  you 
more  unhappy  to  have  me  near  you,  and  to 
have  me  try  to  make  you  love  me  ?  " 

Essie  looked  up,  and  upon  her  features  again 
shone  that  beautiful  look  of  grateful  love,  and 
yet  she  could  not  speak  ;  but  Belle  saw  the 
look,  and  pressing  her  hand  gently,  said  again, 
"  I  may  stay  here,  Essie  dear  ?  " 

"  May  ?  and  do  you,  then,  really  want  to  be 
with  me, —  me,  the  poor  despised  dwarf?  and 
do  you  think  I  would  not  love  to  have  you  ? 


142  BELLE   AND   LILLY. 

0  Belle  !  dear,  dear  Belle  !  if  you  only  knew 
how  I  pined  and  longed  for  love,  how  one 
loving  word  comes  like  balm  to  my  aching 
heart,  you  would  not  ask  such  a  question." 

"  But  you  did  not  seem  to  want  me,  dar- 
ling ;  your  words  were  harsh,  and  your  tone 
cold." 

"  Was  I  ?  Ah,  well,  I  could,  not  believe  in 
the  dream  which  the  first  sound  of  your  voice 
sent  to  my  heart.  I  feared  to  admit  any  one 
into  my  secret  thoughts.  I  suspected  you  and 
feared  to  love  you,  thinking  I  could  never  win 
your  love ;  but,  Belle,  I  cannot  look  into  your 
face  and  doubt  anything;  all  suspicions  flee, 
and  I  must  love  you  !  " 

Belle  seated  herself  beside  her,  and  the  two 
young  girls  were  for  that  hour,  at  least,  happy 
together. 

After  this  Belle  and  Essie  were  constantly 
together.  Belle  succeeded  in  winning  her  love, 
because  she  had  the  right  key  to  her  heart. 
Isot  too  little,  but  too  much  feeling,  too  keen 
sensibilities,  had  made  the  child  draw  into 
herself  and  seem  indifferent  to  all  things.  A 
shudder,  a  tone,  a  look,  were  all  noticed  by 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  143 

her,  and  cut  like  daggers  into  her  heart,  which 
was  just  as  sensitive  also  to  real  kindness,  and 
sympathy,  and  love. 

The  little  party  in  the  dining-room,  which 
we  left  to  follow  Belle  and  Essie,  after  having 
a  royal  time,  eat  some  nuts  and  apples,  and 
then  separated  to  retire. 

Belle,  when  she  heard  all  quiet,  hastened 
down  to  say  good  night  to  the  little  neighbors, 
and  also  to  her  father  and  uncle.  Then  the 
little  folks  all  went  quietly  to  bed. 

Belle  and  Alice  slept  together,  and  Lilly 
and  Lena.  Essie  had  a  little  room  to  herself, 
which  was  a  great  comfort  to  her  at  night,  for 
no  other  part  of  the  day  could  she  be  free  from 
interruption  in  it,  as  Mrs.  Millar  kept  the  chil- 
dren's clothes  here,  and  used  it  also  for  a  sew- 
ing-room and  a  nursery. 

Mr.  Harley  and  Mr.  Mordaunt  left  the  next 
day,  with  many  cautions  to  the  older  ones  to 
take  care  of  the  others,  and  also,  all  of  them 
to  be  as  little  troublesome  as  possible  ;  Mrs* 
Mordaunt  was  to  come  to  them  in  a  week  or 
two,  as  soon  as  the  friends  who  were  with  her 
left.     Alice  talked  to  Belle  a  long  while  about 


144  BELLE  AND  LILLY. 

her  new  protege ',  as  she  called  her,  and  laughed 
somewhat  at  the  sudden  fancy  which  seemed  to 
inspire  her  for  one  so  uncouth  and  apparently 
unamiable. 

"  Alice,"  said  Belle,  "  do  not  talk  in  that 
heartless  manner,  I  cannot  hear  you  ;  have 
you  no  compassion  for  misfortune  and  sorrow? 
Place  yourself  in  her  situation,  what  would 
you  like  others  to  do  to  you,  avoid  and  hate 
you  ?  look  on  you  with  pity,  but  loathing,  and 
leave  you  to  loneliness  and  grief?  "  Belle  spoke 
very  earnestly,  almost  sharply  for  her,  and 
Alice's  bad  passions  were  called  into  play, 
for  the  lion  was  not  yet  tamed  in  her  heart ; 
and  to  tell  the  truth,  she  was  rather  jealous 
of  the  hold  this  stranger  seemed  to  have  taken 
upon  Belle's  affections. 

"  Well  Belle,  really  you  need  not  take  one 
up  quite  so  sharply;  I  don't  know  as  there  is 
any  particular  reason  why  you  should  cut  your 
old  friends,  leave  them  altogether,  and  be  cold 
and  cross  to  them,  merely  to  defend  this  new 
comer." 

"  Cross !  was  I,  Alice  ?  I  am  sure  I  did  not 
mean  to  be ;  and  0,  dear  Alice,  you  know  I 


BELLE  AND  LILLY.  145 

never  desert  my  old  friends,  you  know  how 
much  I  love  you ;  surely,  Alice,  after  all  our 
pleasant  hours  passed  together,  you  cannot 
doubt  it ;  I  left  you  all  enjoying,  yourselves 
and  full  of  glee,  I  knew  none  of  you  would 
miss  me,  and  I  could  not  bear  to  think  of  that 
poor,  pale,  sad  looking  little  thing  being  all 
alone  in  her  grief,  so  I  ran  off  to  find  her, 
and  if  you  had  been  with  me,  Ally  dear,  you 
would  not  have  spoken  of  her  as  you  did,  I 
know ;  forgive  me  if  I  spoke  harshly,  and  let  us 
be  good  friends  again,  won't  you,  deary  ?  " 

"  Ah,  Belle,  you  were  not  cross,  it  is  only 
myself,  and  my  own  ugly  spirit  as  it  always  is, 
that  makes  any  trouble  between  us;  but  one 
cannot  resist  you,  no  one  can  keep  cross  long 
where  you  are." 

"  Well,  now  Alice,  if  we  are  friends  again, 
promise  me  you  will  try  and  love  Essie,  and 
not  let  her  see  you  shrink  from  her ;  promise 
me,  do,  that  you  will  do  all  you  can  to  make 
her  happy  while  we  are  here,  won't  you  now, 
Ally  dear?" 

"  Yes,  yes  I  will,  but  she  will  not  care  much 
for  any  of  us  as  long  as  she  can  have  you ; 
10 


146  BELLE  AND  LILLY. 

but  I  hope  she  will  like  me  a  little  too,  for  h 
she  don't,  I  see  clearly  I  shall  never  have  any 
of  your  society  except  at  night,  so  I  shall  make 
friends  with  her,  if  I  can,  that  we  can  all  be 
together.' ' 

Before  a  week  passed  away,  Essie's  love  was 
completely  won  by  Belle,  and  the  affection 
which  beamed  from  her  large  brown  eyes4 
whenever  she  looked  upon  her,  almost  made 
her  face  for  the  moment  beautiful. 

The  children  all  had  gotten  over  their  first 
fear  of  her,  and  no  longer  shrank  from  the 
touch  of  her  long  arms,  or  gazed  with  horror 
at  her  hump  and  short  figure  ;  she  kept  some- 
what aloof  from  them  all,  however,  so  they  had 
not  much  in  common.  Alice  fulfilled  her 
promise,  and  was  really  kind  and  amiable 
to  her ;  but  Essie's  was  a  reserved  nature, 
and  her  confidence  did  not  flow  forth  easily, 
so  she  was  always  silent  in  Alice's  company. 
Belle  was  constantly  trying  to  infuse  into  her 
heart  some  of  her  own  beautiful  love  and 
trust  in  people. 

One  bright,  pleasant  day,  about  three  weeks 
after  their  arrival,  they  were  returning  from 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  147 

an  exploring  expedition  to  some  woods,  about 
a  mile  or  so  from  the  house.  Belle,  Essie,  and 
Alice,  were  together ;  Essie  was  more  gay  than 
she  was  ever  wont  to  be.  "  What  a  lovely 
walk  we  have  had,"  she  said,  and  her  face 
looked  so  joyons  that  she  seemed  like  another 
being  from  the  one  of  onr  first  acquaintance. 

"  Yes,  we  have  indeed,"  said  both  the  girls, 
in  a  breath  ;  "but  now,"  said  Alice,  "  I  must 
run  back  and  join  Lilly  and  Lena,  for  I  am 
afraid  they  are  far  from  us  and  will  lose 
their  way;  besides,  Lilly  has  my  wreath  and 
my  shawl,  and  I  want  them  both." 

"  Sha'n't  we  all  go  back,  then,"  said  Belle  ? 
"  I  guess  we  had  better." 

"  0  no,  Belle,  I  rather  think  Essie  has 
walked  far  enough,  and  will  be  tired  when 
she  gets  home." 

"  Yes,  said  Belle,  true  enough.  I  did  not 
think  of  that  Ally  dear ;  you  seem  to  have  wits 
for  us  all,  this  afternoon  !  " 

Alice  ran  off,  and  the  two  were  alone. 
"  It  seems  to  me,"  said  Essie,  "  I  never  feel 
tired  when  I  am  with  you,  Belle  dear ;  0, 
how  I  love  to  be !     How  good  you  are  to  me, 


148  BELLE  AND  LILLY. 

and  why  should  you  care  for  me  so  much  ?  no 
one  else  ever  has,  or  does,  but  my  own  angel 
mother."    . 

"  Essie,"  replied  Belle,  in  her  sweet,  tender 
voice,  "  you  are  wrong  in  thinking  no  one 
loves  you,  and  you  are  wrong  in  acting  as  if 
you  thought  so  ;  and,  dear  Essie,  if  you  will 
only  have  that  love  in  your  own  heart  which 
you  would  like  to  have  cherished  for  you,  —  if 
you  would  only  drop  that  cold  reserve  which 
keeps  every  one  from  knowing  you  as  you  are, 
and  have  trust  and  faith,  you  would  be,  so 
much  happier  and  make  others  so  much  hap- 
pier." 

"  I  make  others  happier !  What  do  you 
suppose,  Belle,  it  matters  to  those  at  home 
how  I  look  or  act?  So  I  keep  my  ugly  self 
out  of  the  way,  that  is  all  they  care  for.  My 
absence  or  death  might  make  them  happier,  I 
presume ! " 

"  Indeed,  indeed  Essie,  you  are  wrong !  you 
are  so  mistaken,  no  one  feels  so  about  you,  and 
you  would  find  out  how  wrong  you  were  if 
you  would  only  use  what  gifts  God  has  given 
you,  rightly.     Now,  dear  Essie,  you  live  only 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  149 

for  yourself,  and  hug  up  your  own  sorrows, 
and  will  not  see  what  you  can  make  bright 
about  you." 

"It  is  easy  for  you  to  talk  thus,  Belle,"  she 
replied,  bitterly,  "  with  all  your  loveliness, 
your  grace,  your  wealth,  &c. ;  but  what  gifts 
have  been  bestowed  upon  me  to  call  forth  my 
gratitude  ?  The  only  gift  I  have  prayed  for, 
and  longed  for,  has  been  denied,  death,  —  for 
what,  then,  have  I  to  be  grateful  ?  " 

"  Essie,  Essie,  you  are  not  fit  to  die  yet.  0, 
you  know  not  what  you  ask!  God  in  his 
mercy  has  spared  you  for  wise  and  good  pur- 
poses ;  and  you  will  one  day  see  and  acknowl- 
edge his  love  in  all  things,  even  in  your  mis- 
fortunes, which  you  now  speak  of  so  bitterly." 

"  What,  Belle,  be  thankful  for  the  curse 
sent  upon  me  ?  See  love  in  my  life  of  mis- 
ery ?  I  may  be  reconciled  to  it ;  but  grateful 
for  anything  concerning  my  existence,  I  can- 
not be." 

Belle  sighed,  and  looked  sadly  at  the  excited 
girl,  as  she  replied :  "  Will  you  let  mc  tell 
you,  Essie  dear,  what  you  have  to  be  grateful 
for  in  common  with  us  all,  and  some  things 


150  BELLE   AND   LILLY. 


which  few  have  besides  ?  First,  then,  for  life ; 
for  is  it  not  a  pleasure  to  live  in  this  beautiful 
world,  to  watch  the  flowers  grow,  to  listen  to 
the  songs  of  birds,  to  look  on  such  sights  as 
this  now  around  us  ?  "  They  both  stopped  for  a 
moment  to  survey  the  lovely  landscape  spread 
out  upon  all  sides,  gilded  by  the  departing 
rays  of  a  most  gorgeous  sunset.  "  Look !  0 
look,  Essie !  are  not  those  clouds 

"  Like  golden  vistas  into  heaven." 

Essie's  rapt  face  showed  she  fully  appre- 
ciated the  beauty,  and  had  a  soul  to  enjoy  it. 
"  Secondly,"  continued  Belle,  after  a  moment's 
silence,  "  you  have  talents,  intelligence,  mind, 
which  can  afford  you  great  delight.  Thirdly, 
you  have  the  gift  of  song,  a  most  beautiful 
voice  with  which  to  gratify  others,  and  amuse 
and  employ  yourself.  Fourthly,  you  have  the 
power  in  you  of  making  friends,  if  you  choose 
to  exert  it,  and  you  might  be  a  great  blessing 
to  all  around  you.  Lastly,  you  have  a  good 
home,  all  your  bodily  wants  well  cared  for,  and 
people  around  you  who  mean  to  be  kind  to 
you,  although  they  may  not  understand  how. 


BELLE  AND  LILLY.  151 

There  now,  you  naughty  girl,  I  have  read  you 
a  long  sermon,  and  we  are  almost  home  ;  but, 
ere  we  get  there,  dear  Essie,"  and  she  looked 
at  her  with  her  sweet  eyes  full  of  tenderness, 
"  promise  me  you  will  try  and  get  rid  of  your 
suspicion  and  coldness ;  let  love  enter  your 
heart  and  take  up  its  abode  there ;  love  for  all, 
will  you  ;  say,  Essie  ?  " 

Essie  pressed  her  young  teacher's  hand,  and 
with  her  eyes  full  of  tears,  said,  "  For  you, 
dear  Belle,  I  will  try  to  change ;  for  you  and 
mother  I  would  do  everything." 

Prom  that  day,  there  was  a  marked  altera- 
tion in  Essie.  She  was  more  gracious  to  all 
around  her,  stayed  among  others  more,  and 
often  sung  when  asked,  and  sometimes  joined 
in  their  games ;  even  from  Lilly  she  shrank 
less,  although  her  exceeding  beauty  was  such 
a  painful  contrast  that  the  sight  of  her  awoke 
more  of  the  bitterness  that  still  rankled  in  her 
heart. 

One  morning  Mrs.  Millar  exclaimed,  "  What 
has  come  over  Essie  ?  she  is  really  amusing 
the  children ;  look  at  her  with  little  Janey  on 
her  lap,  and  Tommy  at  her  side,  and  one  arm 


152  BELLE  AND  LILLY. 

around  him ;  gracious  me !  a  fortnight  or  three 
weeks  ago  and  she  would  n't  touch  them  if  she 
could  help  it ;  after  all,  she  a'n't  so  bad  looking, 
mother,  her  face  now  is  so  pleasant."  Her 
mother's  heart  was  touched ;  poor  Essie  had 
never  looked  pleasant  in  Mrs.  Millar's  eyes 
before ! 

"  Yes,"  said  Nursey,  "  and  this  morning  she 
came  and  brought  me  a  real  pretty  knitting- 
sheath,  and  laid  it  in  my  lap,  never  saying  a 
word.  I  know  what  it  is ;  that  Belle  is  an 
angel,  Abby ;  she  is  a  blessed  child,  but  she 
won't  live  long ;  look  at  her  skin  showing 
every  vein,  and  then  her  eyes  so  bright  and 
so  dark  around  them ;  besides,  she  is  ripe  for 
heaven  and  no  mistake  !  " 

"  Yes,  yes  !  I  think  so  too,  mother  ;  and  yet 
she  seems  perfectly  well." 

Just  then  Belle  came  in,  followed  by  Alice, 
Lilly,  and  Lena ;  they  had  all  been  out  having 
a  nice  play  in  the  barn  and  swinging,  their 
eheeks  were  rosy  and  their  eyes  sparkling ;  so 
fresh  and  radiant  was  Belle  that  her  appear- 
ance seemed  to  deny  the  assertion  just  made, 
and  Nurse  exclaimed : 


BELLE   AND  LILLY.  153 

"  Country  air  is  making  you  a  different 
looking  lassie ;  your  father  will  hardly  know 
you.  And  Miss  Alice,  too,  she  has  gained 
ever  so  much." 

"  Yes,"  said  Alice,  "  in  health  and  happi- 
ness too.  If  you  only  knew  how  much  good 
you  had  done  me,  Mrs.  Randall,  by  admitting 
me  as  one  of  the  children,  I  am  sure  you  would 
not  regret  being  a  little  crowded." 

"  No  more  I  do,  Miss  Alice.  Ah,  it  does  my 
old  eyes  good  to  see  so  many  of  your  young 
faces  together.  I  hope  you  will  feel  like  one 
of  them,  and  come  whenever  they  do,  in  fu- 
ture." 

"  Thank  you  !  thank  you  !  I  am  sure  I  shall 
wish  to ;  but  I  have  a  new  mother  now  that  I 
shall  have  to  mind,  —  it  will  be  as  she  says." 

"  Well,  then,"  said  Belle,  joining  in  the  con- 
versation, "  you  will  come  ;  for,  as  I  have  often 
told  you,  Alice,  I  know  your  new  mother ;  she 
lived  near  us,  and  she  is  just  as  good  and  kind 
as  she  is  pretty,  and  you  will  love  her  dearly." 

"  May  be  so ;  at  any  rate  I  shall  try  to,  if 
only  to  please  you,  Belle. " 

"  Why,  how  you  all  love  Belle,"  said  Mrs. 


? 
154  BELLE  AND   LILLY. 


Millar ;  "  I  wonder  the  rest  of  you  a'n't  jealous, 
she  is  such  a  favorite. " 

"  Jealous  !  jealous  of  Belle  !  that  would  be 
queer,  indeed,"  said  Lilly ;  "  why,  she  ought 
to  be  loved  the  best,  there  is  no  one  like  her ; 
who  could  be  jealous  of  our  Belle  ?  "  And  she 
threw  her  arms  around  her  neck  and  hugged 
and  kissed  her. 

Alice  colored,  for  she  remembered  the  time 
when  her  jealousy  had  caused  so  much  misery 
to  herself  and  others,  but  she  did  not  speak. 

Essie  now  came  forward,  with  a  child  in 
each  hand,  and  said,  "  And  so  the  picnic 
comes  off  to-morrow ;  is  that  what  you  are  all 
talking  about  ? " 

w  No,  that  is  not  what  we  were  talking 
about ;  but  it  is  to-morrow,"  said  Mrs.  Millar, 
"  and  won't  you  all  have  a  grand  time  ?  " 

K  And  oh  ! "  said  little  Lena,  scrabbling  up  in 
Nurse  Randall's  lap,  "  is  n't  it  nice  that  we 
are  going  to  stay  here  six  whole  weeks,  or  a 
month  longer  ?  "  (All  fear  of  the  old  Nurse 
had  departed,  and  she  was  a  great  pet  and 
plaything.) 

"Yes,  yes,  my  darlings,  I  am  right  glad 


BELLE  AND   LILLY.  155 

your  time  is  lengthened ;  but  sorry  Lilly's 
mother  and  the  baby  can't  get  here  until  just 
before  you  go." 

The  girl's  vacation  was  extended  in  conse- 
quence of  the  marriage  of  Mr.  Burbank  and 
Miss  Manners.  As  they  were  not  to  teach  any 
longer,  the  girls  were  going  to  another  school. 
Lena's  mother  had  also  left  that  school,  and 
set  up  a  French  class  for  herself,  which  was 
well  patronized,  —  so  Adele  was  very  happy. 
After  Mrs.  Burbank  returned  from  her  wed- 
ding tour,  Adele,  with  Lena,  was  to  live  with 
her ;  an  arrangement  so  delightful  for  the 
affectionate,  dependent  little  Madame,  that  her 
joy  was  too  great  for  expression. 

So  all  were  pleased,  the  girls  particularly, 
that  they  were  to  enjoy  the  lovely  country 
until  late  in  fall. 

But  among  all,  none  were  so  happy  as  poor 
Essie.  To  have  her  dear  Belle  six  weeks 
longer,  was  indeed  a  felicity. 

The  girls  felt  badly  to  lose  their  teachers, 
but  thought  it  such  a  nice  match.  "  And  then 
poor  Mr.  Burbank  has  been  teaching  so  long," 
said  Belle,  "  he  deserves  to  rest." 


156  BELLE  AND  LILLY. 

Essie's  happiness  was  deep,  but  silent,  since 
the  advent  of  Belle  into  that  house.  Life  had 
assumed  a  new  aspect  to  that  sad  heart,  and 
she  began  to  feel  that  even  she,  with  all  her 
sorrows,  had  a  great  deal  to  be  grateful  for, 
and  a  good  many  to  love. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

THE   PICNIC. 

The  morning  arose  fair  and  cloudless,  and 
many  hearts  beat  high  with  joyful  anticipation ; 
all  the  village  children,  boys  and  girls,  four- 
teen years  old  and  under,  were  invited,  and 
many  of  the  mothers,  or  older  relatives  were 
to  go,  to  see  that  all  went  right,  and  to  take 
care  of  the  younger  ones. 

Belle  had  had  great  difficulty  in  persuading 
Essie  to  be  one  among  them. 

"  0  no  !  I  never  go  to  such  things,"  she  said, 
"  I  do  not  know  the  village  children,  and  I 
hate  to  be  where  there  are  so  many  to  stare  at 
me  ;  no  one  will  care  about  it,  but  you  Belle, 
and  you  only  tease  me  to  go,  because  you  think 
I  would  enjoy  it;  but  when  you  know  I  should 
not,  when  you  know  it  will  be  actual  pain  to 


158  BELLE  AND   LILLY. 

me,  surely,  dear  Belle,  you  will  urge  me  no 
more." 

"  No,  no  !  I  will  give  it  up  then,  Essie,  but 
half  my  pleasure  is  destroyed  ;  and  I  know,  too, 
the  children,  Tommy  and  Janey,  will  miss  you 
sadly." 

"  And,"  said  Alice,  "  what  s^Ill  we  do  with- 
out Essie  to  sing  for  us  ?  " 

"  And,"  chimed  in  little  "uena,  "  who  can 
make  such  lovely  wreaths  as  Essie,  and  who 
will  spy  out  all  the  pretty  flowers  ?  " 

"  And,"  said  Mrs.  Millar,  speaking  really 
gently,  and  softly  for  her,  "  who  will  take  care 
so  well  of  my  babies  ?  " 

And  then  Belle  looked  at  her  so  imploringly 
with  her  soft  brown  eyes,  that  she  relented, 
saying,  with  a  pleased  expression,  "  Well,  if 
you  all  want  me  so  much,  I  must  go,  and  shall 
be  glad  to  be  useful !  " 

Lilly  was  chosen  queen,  for  she  was  so  beau^ 
tiful,  that  she  had  the  vote  of  all  the  villagers. 
How  proud  and  happy  was  little  Lena,  who  was 
one  of  her  maids  of  honor,  to  wait  upon  this, 
the  young  sovereign  of  a  day.     Belle  wrote  a 


BELLE  AND  LILLY.  159 

very  sweet  little  poetical  address,  which  was 
to  be  spoken  upon  crowning  her,  and  Essie 
was  to  sing,  some  time  in  the  day,  a  little  song 
also  composed  by  Belle,  called  "  The  Woodland 
Party,"  and  set  to  music  by  Essie ;  everything 
was  arranged  satisfactorily. 

Polly  and  Mrs.  Millar,  with  Essie's  help,  had 
made  quantities  of  pies,  cakes,  and  brown  bread, 
and  boiled  ham,  and  lots  of  chickens.  The  old 
Nurse  was  to  be  there,  as  well  as  the  rest ;  she 
was  to  ride  in  a  wagon  with  the  provisions  and 
Mrs.  Millar  and  the  little  ones. 

The  day,  as  I  said  before,  dawned  brightly, 
and  at  nine  o'clock,  forty  merry  souls  were  as- 
sembled at  the  old  farm  "  Woodside,"  as  the 
nearest  "  rendezvous." 

The  girls  were  dressed  in  white,  with  blue 
sashes,  and  the  boys  in  white  pants  and 
roundabouts, — what  a  happy  set  they  were; 
not  a  sad  face,  not  a  cross  look  was  visible, 
and  their  glad  voices  rang  out  in  merry,  joy- 
ous chimes  upon  the  soft,  balmy  air. 

Essie  kept  in  the  back  ground;  she,  too,  Was 
dressed  in  white,  and  her  long  curls  never 
shone  more  glossily,  or  shaded  her  face  when 
it  looked  more  happy  and  content. 


160  BELLE  AND  LILLY. 

The  procession  formed  two  and  two,  they 
kept  thus  a  short  time,  when  the  regularity 
was  dispensed  with,  and  groups  walked  to- 
gether. 

Lena  carried  the  basket  with  the  queen's 
wreath,  and  proud  was  she  of  her  burden.  A 
young  lad,  they  called  Frank,  walked  by  Lilly's 
side,  who  seemed  to  be  much  occupied  looking 
at  her ;  there  were  a  good  many  boys  among 
them,  and  some  rather  mischievous  ones,  too, 
I  should  judge  from  the  pranks  that  every 
little  while  were  played  off,  such  as  trying  to 
kiss  the  girls,  and  to  make  them  take  their 
arms,  and,  now  and  then,  sticking  stiff  dande- 
lions or  weeds  in  their  bonnets. 

"  Oh !  oh !  let  me  alone !  "  says  Emma  Lindon, 
"  Bob,  get  out  of  the  way,  I  will  not  take  your 
arm.  Now  a'n't  you  ashamed,  sticking  Bessie 
Groat's  bonnet  full  of  that  old  everlasting?  " 

"  Hush,  hush,  Emma  !  don't  tell  her,  she 
don't  know  it,  and  don't  it  look,  too,  funny  ?  " 
And  it  did,  indeed ;  for  Bessie  was  a  tall,  thin 
girl,  with  a  high-crowned  bonnet  on,  upon  the 
very  top  of  which  Bob  had  contrived  to  fasten 
a  great  bunch  of  everlasting,  making  it  stand 


BELLE   AND   LILLY*  161 

straight  up.  They  both  laughed,  and  Emma 
kept  still. 

The  next  thing  he  tried,  was  to  teaze  Lena, 
by  pulling  at  the  precious  wreath,  or  pretend- 
ing to  ;  Lena  fled  to  Belle  for  protection. 
Then  his  mischievous  eyes  spied  out  Essie. 

"  0,"  he  whispers  to  Emma,  "  here  is  little 
humpy,  I  '11  fix  her  up  now." 

11  Come,  Tom,  you  go  pick  that  great  big 
dockleaf,  and  yonder  is  a  dahlia*  she  shall 
have  a  feather  in  her  cap  soon." 

Tom,  like  most  boys,  was  up  to  the  fun,  and 
went.  Bob  tied  the  leaf  and  the  flower  to- 
gether, and  crept  softly  up  behind  Essie,  and 
while  she  and  Belle  were  very  busy  talking^ 
tucked  it  in  the  ribbon  of  her  hat.  Where- 
upon, many  of  the  children  set  up  a  shout,  and 
if  "  poor  Essie "  had  known  how  ridiculous 
she  looked,  she  would  have  been  most  deeply 
pained,  for  she  was  so  sensitive  to  ridi- 
cule. • 

Before,  however,  she  could  understand  what 

all  the  shouting  and  laughter  was  about,  Alice 

had  stepped  quickly  up  to  her,  and  snatched 

the  thing  out,  then  looking  haughtily  at  the 

n 


162  BELLE    AND    LILLY. 

boy,  said,  "  I  am  sorry  you  have  so  little  feel- 
ing, or  sense,  either." 

Alice  had  not  yet  learned  to  be  gentle  in 
her  reproofs ;  her  indignation  or  anger  aroused, 
would  come  forth  in  words  and  looks. 

The  boy  was  hurt ;  he  did  not  mean  to  be 
ugly,  he  only  wanted  a  little  fun,  and  was 
thoughtless  as  boys  usually  are  who  have  not 
been  taught  as  a  constant  and  daily  practice 
the  beautiful  rule  which  our  sweet  Belle  so 
loved.  His  face  crimsoned,  and  he  darted  an 
angry  look  at  Alice. 

Belle  turned  around  at  the  instant,  saw  the 
look,  and  thought  to  herself  that  it  would 
never  do  to  have  clouds  arising  so  early  in  the 
day.     So  she  said  :  — 

"  Ally  dear,  do  come  here,  won't  you  ?  and 
Bob,  too,  and  Tom.  We  want  you  large  folks 
all  to  hurry  forward  and  see  if  the  bower  is 
ready,  and  all  right ;  if  not,  use  your  taste  in 
finishing  it  up." 

"  Will  you  come  too,  Belle  ? "  said  Alice ; 
you  have  more  taste  than  any  of  us." 

"  Yes,  I  '11  go  and  leave  Essie  with  Lilly, 
Lena,  and  the  rest,  while  we  run  on." 


BELLE    AND    LILLY.  163 

And  on  they  hastened,  all  ill-feeling  gone 
and  forgotten 

"  What  a  lovely  bower !  0,  did  you  ever 
see  anything  so  perfect  ?  "  said  Alice  ;  "  who 
built  it  ?  " 

"  Essie,  and  Frank,  and  I,"  said  Belle,  "  but 
Essie  planned  it." 

"  What,  that  little  dwarf  with  the  cross  face 
that  I  have  seen  lately  at  the  old  farm,  and 
who  is  with  us  to-day  ?  "  said  Bob  and  Tom  in 
a  breath. 

"  0,  boys  don't  speak  of  her  in  that  way  ! 
don't !  I  am  sure  you  would  not  hurt  her  feel- 
ings if  you  knew  her,  you  could  not  be  so 
rude  as  well  as  unkind." 

"Well,  Belle,"  replied  Tom,  "I  will  be 
more  careful,  but  I  thought  none  of  the  folks 
liked  her  over  there,  and  that  she  was  sullen 
and  cross." 

Well,  and  if  she  were  so,  which  is  not  true, 
suppose  you  were  afflicted  as  she  is,  a  painful 
object  for  all  eyes  to  gaze  upon  and  shudder, 
would  you  be  very  amiable  or  sociable,  do  you 
think  ?  But  Essie  only  needs  love  and  tender- 
ness to  draw  her  thoughts  from  herself,  and 


164  BELLE   AND    LILLY. 

then  she  is  more  lovable  than  most  of  us,  and 
her  talents  are  remarkable ;  but  she  is  sensi- 
tive beyond  measure,  and  particularly  so  to 
ridicule. " 

Bob  was  listening  attentively  to  all  Belle 
said,  and  he  blushed  with  shame  in  thinking 
of  his  last  exploit ;  but  he  determined  in  his 
own  mind  to  make  up  for  it  by  peculiar  kind- 
ness to  her  the  rest  of  the  day. 

And  now  all  the  children  and  all  the  party- 
were  fairly  assembled  in  those  lovely  woods, 
and  what  a  glorious  day  was  it  for  those  happy 
young  hearts,  —  nothing  interfered  to  mar  the 
pleasure,  after  the  little  scene  on  the  way  there. 
Lilly  looked  beautifully,  blushing  and  modest, 
when  she  knelt  before  Frank  Morris  to  receive 
her  crown  of  flowers,  and  still  more  lovely  was 
her  bright  face  when  she  arose  with  the  rose- 
buds and  lilies  for  a  coronal.  Lena  and  three 
other  little  girls  of  the  same  age  were  the 
maids  of  honor,  and  never  did  the  hearts  of 
any  real  attendant  upon  a  real  sovereign  beat 
with  more  importance  than  the  hearts  of  these 
five-year-old  maidens. 

The  queen  was  not  too  dignified  to  mingle 


BELLE    AND    LILLY.  165 

in  the  sport.  She  was  even  seen  playing  "  tag," 
"  king's  ground,"  and  also  swinging  as  gaily 
and  noisily  as  her  subjects  ;  and  one  part  of  the 
day  (ah !  tell  it  not  in  Gath)  she  might  have 
been  observed  with  her  pretty  white  feet  bare, 
her  pantalets  rolled  up,  wading  in  the  clear 
running  brook,  her  maids  of  honor  all  in  her 
train,  as  well  as  a  number  of  other  little  girls. 

What  a  dinner  that  was ;  spread  out 

upon  the  white  cloth  on  a  smooth  green  place, 
overshadowed  by  large,  closely  intertwined 
trees. 

The  queen  was  served  first  by  the  king, 
then  each  in  order  helped  themselves.  How 
hungry  everybody  felt,  and  how  good  every- 
thing tasted,  and  how  delighted  were  the  older 
people  to  see  so  many  happy  faces  around. 

About  an  hour  after  dinner  all  assembled 
together  to  hear  some  music ;  there  were  sev- 
eral sweet  singers  among  them,  and  the  ban  I 
were  allowed  to  sit  in  the  bower,  the  rest  clus- 
tered around  to  listen. 

Song  after  song  followed  in  quick  succes- 
sion, but  now  the  queen  called  for  a  solo  from 
Essie  ! 


166  BELLE   AND   LILLY. 

What  a  buzz  of  astonishment  rose  up  from 
many  who  did  not  know  she  could  sing  at  all, 
who  had  never  thought  of  poor  Essie  as  able 
to  do  anything  like  other  people. 

This  was  a  hard  trial  for  our  little  Essie  to 
get  up  and  sing  there  before  so  many  who 
cared  not  for  her,  and  that  she  did  not  wish  to 
please  ;  but  she  had  promised  her  dear  Belle, 
and  go  through  it  she  would,  if  possible. 

At  first,  her  voice  trembled  very  perceptibly, 
but  ere  the  six  or  eight  stanzas  were  completed, 
it  swelled  forth  gloriously.  It  commenced 
thus :  — 

"  Come  all  ye  that  love  joy  and  pleasure, 
Come  join  in  our  frolic  to-day  ; 
We  will  have  mirth  and  sport  without  measure* 
Each  heart  and  each  face  must  be  gay. 

"  Our  queen  is  a  sweet  little  creature, 
As  all  who  look  once  will  say ; 
Our  king,  too,  all  grant,  is  a  treasure, 
E'en  worthy  the  queen  to  obey." 

Then  followed  a  description  of  many  of  the 
p,irls,  and  it  ended  with  a  hope  that  all  might 
meet  again  in  the  lovely  woodland  grove  ;  but 
if  not  to  meet  ever  in  this  world,  then 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  167 

"  In  that  beautiful  heaven  where  all  is  bright, 
Where  sorrow  ne'er  enters,  nor  pain,  nor  night, 
May  we  meet  and  love  on,  for  aye." 

The  last  strains  died  away  so  beautifully  soft 
and  clear,  so  full  of  pathos  were  the  tones,  that 
every  heart  was  touched,  and  many  eyes  moist- 
ened with  tears. 

The  poetry  for  a  girl  of  eleven,  was  quite 
creditable,  and  at  any  rate,  at  that  time,  all 
thought  it  beautiful  ;  probably  Essie's  lovely 
voice  aided  the  effect.  There  was  not  a  heart 
there  that  did  not  warm  towards  the  poor 
desolate  one,  upon  hearing  those  heavenly 
tones. 

The  singing  over,  the  whole  party  joined  in 
a  round  of  merry  games,  and  then  their  elders 
proclaimed  it  was  time  to  prepare  for  home ; 
and,  after  various  detentions,  from  hunting  up 
stray  articles  and  stray  children,  the  party 
started. 

For  about  a  half  a  mile,  all  walked  together ; 
then  came  good  byes  and  affectionate  leave- 
takings,  and  before  long,  the  little  company 
from  "  Woodside  "  were  alone. 

Essie,  with  the  two  children,  for  they  had 


168  BELLE   AND   LILLY. 

begged  to  walk  home  with  sissy,  of  whom 
lately  they  had  become  very  fond,  walked  with 
Belle  and  Alice.  Lilly  and  Lena,  with  the 
young  king,  who  would  not  leave  his  queen 
until  the  last  minute,  were  also  together. 

It  was  a  beautiful  evening,  the  sun  just  set- 
ting clearly,  while  a  rosy,  hazy  light,  was 
over  all  the  landscape  ;  the  woods,  behind  them, 
stood  out  boldly  against  the  sky,  and  the  pretty 
village,  with  its  picturesque  spires,  was  bathed 
in  the  departing  glory. 

The  girls  lingered  to  enjoy  the  hour,  so  that 
Lilly,  and  Lena,  and  Frank,  were  soon  out  of 
sight.  They  were  standing  still,  gazing  and 
admiring  ;  "  How  lovely  the  pond  looks,"  ex- 
claimed Alice,  "  so  lighted  up  by  the  sun,  and 
see  the  bright  flowers  all  around  the  bank  ! 
Surely  they  were  never  there  before." 

"  0,"  said  Essie,  "  I  have  robbed  its  margin 
often  this  summer ;  but  they  do  show  more 
sweetly  than  ever  before,  it  seems  to  me." 

"  Sissy,  I  want  one  of  those  pretty  flowers," 
said  Tommy,  "  and  I  mean  to  get  some,  too;  so 
away  lie  ran  as  quick  as  thought  to  the  pond, 
no  one  dreaming  of  any  danger. 


BELLE    AND   LILLY.  169 

He  stooped  down,  and  reached  over  for  the 
brightest  looking  flower,  it  was  a  little  beyond 
his  reach,  but  he  leaned  still  farther,  lost  his 
balance,  and  fell  headlong  into  the  water. 

Essie  had  already  started  for  the  boy  when 
she  saw  him  fall,  then  with  a  scream  of  anguish 
almost  heart-rending,  she  darted  to  the  spot, 
but  he  had  disappeared  beneath  the  thick  dark 
water ;  instantly  he  rose  again,  some  distance 
from  the  bank ;  without  a  single  thought  of  self, 
Essie  plunged  in,  and  succeeded  in  jumping 
near  enough  to  the  place  where  he  appeared,  to 
reach  him  with  one  of  her  long  arms  ;  with 
the  other,  she  had  clutched  hold  of  a  long 
branch  of  a  tree  which  grew  on  the  bank  and 
overshadowed  the  pond,  this  one  hanging  far 
down,  and  far  out  from  the  land.  The  girls 
were  there  in  a  moment ;  there  was  the  brave 
child,  with  Tommy  a  perfectly  dead  weight  in 
one  arm,  and  the  other  holding  on  with  might 
and  main  to  the  tree ;  her  face  was  very,  very 
pale,  and  she  was  gasping  with  her  efforts,  but 
she  must  keep  Tommy's  head  above  water,  and 
her  own,  too  ;  what  could  be  done  ?  they  could 
not  reach  her,  and  she  surely  could  not  hold 


170  BELLE   AND   LILLY. 

t 

on  long  enough  for  one  to  run  to  the  house 
for  assistance  ;  what  agony  unspeakable  was 
concentrated  in  these  few  minutes.  But  one 
had  already  started  for  the  house ;  it  was  Belle ; 
she  almost  flew.  Alice  remained  to  cheer  and 
encourage  the  fainting  Essie. 

What  an  age  it  seemed ;  Essie's  cheek  grew 
more  and  more  ghastly,  the  arm  which  held 
Tommy  relaxed,  only  his  head  was  above  water, 
her  own  head  sunk  lower  ;  "  alas,  alas,  she  will 
sink,  she  will  die !  what  shall  I  do,  what  shall 
I  do  ?  "  And  Alice  wrung  her  hands  in  desN 
pair. 

Just  as  all  hope  was  about  departing  from 
both,  Alice  espied  Farmer  Hazlewood,  running, 
with  Belle  after  him,  and  others  from  the 
farm. 

"  Hold  on,  hold  on,  Essie  dear,  they  are  here ; 
one  moment,  and  you  are  safe,  keep  up !  " 

Hope  inspired  her  with  fresh  strength,  and 
she  kept  up. 

They  were  soon  rescued  from  their  perilous 
situation  by  the  strong  man,  but  Essie  sank 
lifeless  into  his  arms.  He  walked  the  short 
distance,  for  the  water  was  not  over  his  head, 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  171 

—  about  up  to  his  shoulders, —  and  held  one 
in  each  arm.  Tommy  he  placed  in  his  mother's 
care,  (for  she  had  rushed  to  the  spot,  and  was 
almost  frantic  with  terror,)  Essie  he  laid  upon 
the  hank  until  he  came  up,  and  then  he  car- 
ried her  to  the  house.  It  was  a  mournful  pro- 
cession home,  how  different  from  the  bright 
scene  of  the  morning ;  every  voice  was  hushed 
and  every  heart  was  sad,  for  none  knew  as  yet 
the  extent  of  the  mischief,  they  both  lay  so 
pale  and  lifeless. 

Little  Tommy  soon  came  to  himself,  upon 
rubbing,  and  looked  around  him  in  a  sort  of 
amazed  way ;  he  had  been  more  frightened  than 
hurt;  poor  Mrs.  Millar,  however,  thought  she 
had  lost  her  darling,  and  when  he  opened  his 
blue  round  eyes  and  gazed  at  her,  she  clasped 
him  to  her  heart  with  a  fervent  ejaculation  of 

joy- 

"With  Essie  it  was  a  far  more  serious  adven- 
ture; it  was  amazing  how  such  a  little  frail 
creature  could  have  exerted  so  much  strength, 
for  at  other  times  she  could  scarce  lift  Tommy 
from  the  floor  into  her  lap;  he  was  a  great 
stout  boy  of  five. 


172  BELLE  AND  LILLY. 

She  was  laid  upon  the  bed,  and  everything 
done  to  restore  animation,  but  for  a  long  time 
all  means  failed,  and  one  looked  at  the  other 
with  sad  tearful  eyes,  while  hope  was  dying  in 
their  hearts  ;  at  length,  however,  her  large 
dreamy  eyes  unclosed  and  fixed  upon  Mrs. 
Millar  who  was  bending  anxiously  over  her. 

"  Where  am  I  ?  "  she  asked,  in  the  lowest 
whisper.  "  I  have  had  such  a  dream  !  I 
thought  little  Tommy  was  drowned,  and  that 
it  was  my  fault ;  and  then  I  thought  I  was 
drowned  too,  and  went  to  Heaven ;  and  0  how 
happy  I  was,  mother  was  so  glad  to  see  me. 
But  here  I  am,  and  here  you  all  are  !  But 
where  is  Tommy,  say,  is  he  safe  ?  " 

"  He  is,  Essie  dear,  safe,  and  you  saved  him, 
and  you  are  my  blessed  child.  0  Essie,  for- 
give me,  forgive  me,  for  all  my  hardness,  for 
my  blindness,  and  love  me  a  little ! "  And 
the  tears  rained  upon  her  cheeks. 

"  Forgive  you  !  0,  God  be  thanked,  I  have 
then  found  another  mother,  —  another  who 
will  love  me  like  a  child  !  Mother  !  I  love 
to  say  that  word.  Mother,  I  will  live  for  you 
and  father  now ;  I  hope  I  no  longer  wish  to 
<\\q  I » 


BELLE  AND  LILLY.  173 

But  now  that  Essie  was  resigned  to  live, 
aye,  even  happy  in  the  prospect  of  life,  she  was 
to  be  taken  from  all  who  loved  her ;  she  had 
remained  long  enough  to  be  fitted  for  death, 
and  now,  amidst  regret  and  unavailing  sorrow, 
she  was  to  be  wafted  to  that  heaven  she  so 
loved. 

Yet  still  she  lingered  long !  That  sick  room 
was  a  holy  and  beautiful  lesson  to  all  who 
entered  it.  All  summer  she  remained  among 
them,  gradually  growing  weaker  and  paler  ; 
the  shock  and  the  chill  was  too  great  for  her 
sickly  frame,  and  she  died  in  saving  another, 
happy,  too,  in  such  a  death. 

Poor  Mrs.  Millar !  bitterly  did  her  heart  re- 
proach her  for  all  her  wrong  to  that  suffer- 
ing child  ;  ah,  how  gladly  would  she  have 
toiled  for  her  through  life,  could  she  but  be 
spared  to  her  now.  For  weeks,  Mrs.  Millar's 
eyes  had  been  opening  to  the  good  in  Essie, 
and  her  heart  softening  towards  her,  and  often 
had  doubts  crept  into  her  mind  as  to  whether 
she  had  always  been  as  kind  and  gentle  as  she 
ought  to  be  towards  the  poor  child ;  and  now 
this   last  act  of  self-devotion   completely  sub- 


174  BELLE  AND   LILLY. 

dued  the  (really  not  hard)  heart  of  the  step- 
mother ;  she  loved  her  truly  and  deeply,  and 
longed  for  her  to  live  in  order  that  she  might 
atone  for  past  injustice. 

Mr.  Millar,  Essie's  father,  came  home  and 
found  his  neglected  child  dying;  then  awoke 
the  father's  heart  within  him,  then  the  earnest 
appeals  of  his  lost  wife  for  his  poor  girl  came 
to  his  mind  like  dagger-strokes,  causing  him  to 
writhe  with  anguish ! 

"  0,  my  poor  abused  child,"  he  cried,  "  live, 
live  for  your  father,  that  he  may  show  you 
now,  how  he  loves  you." 

Essie  would  look  so  deeply,  purely  happy, 
when  so  much  love  fell  upon  her  ear ;  her  sweet 
low  voice  would  come  to  him  with  comforting 
words,  and  she  would  wind  her  arms  around 
his  neck  and  kiss  him  so  tenderly. 

"  It  was  all  my  own  fault,  father,  and  moth- 
er, too,  it  was  all  my  fault,  you  did  not  know 
me,  I  was  sullen  and  cross,  and  hated  every- 
body ;  then  there  was  no  love  in  my  own  heart, 
and  I  deserved  none.  It  was  dear  Belle  that 
taught  me  how  bad  I  was,  and  since  she 
showed  me  the  way  to  love  people,  I  have 
been  so  much  happier  !  " 


BELLE   AND   LILLY.  175 

Thus  she  talked  and  soothed  those  in 
trouble  around  her.  The  girls  all  wanted 
to  be  near  her ;  but  they  took  turns  at  her 
bedside,  Belle's  turn  coming  oftenest, —  for 
the  dying  child  could  hardly  bear  her  out  of 
her  sight. 

The  night  before  she  died,  one  of  her  long 
beautiful  curls  was  cut  off  for  each  of  her 
dearest  friends. 

She  died  in  Belle's  arms-,  with  her  father, 
mother,  and  grandmother  around  the  bed  ; 
her  father  wiping  the  death-dew  from  her 
pale  forehead,  her  last  look  was  upon  him ; 
her  last  words  were,  "mother  dearest,  I  come  ! 
God  bless  you  all.  We  shall  meet  above. " 
Tranquilly,  serenely,  and  painlessly,  she  depart- 
ed to  her  home  in  the  sky. 

Every  attention  and  care  had  been  bestowed 
upon  her,  the  best  of  physicians  and  the  ten- 
derest  of  nurses  always  near,  but  naught 
availed  ;  she  was  prepared  for  her  home  on 
high,  and  to  it  God  in  his  love  had  taken 
her. 

Poor  Essie  never  was  forgotten  by  any  one 


176  BELLE   AND   LILLY* 

who  knew  her  that  summer.  The  girls,  with 
their  parents,  left  the  village  soon  after  her 
burial,  and  returned  to  Boston. 

Should  any  of  our  young  readers  desire  to 
hear  more  about  them,  they  may,  perhaps,  at 
some  future  time. 


THE  END. 


/ 


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